Republican Wars 1: Death of Peace
by Empire of Silverstein
Summary: My first story! What happens when the Pokemon world is plunged into a brutal and unnessesary war! How will Ash and friends react? Advanceshipping will progress throughout the story! Read This!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1- Prelude

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.

This is my first story so don't laugh…..here we go!

The winter air was cold in the southwestern region of the Yuktorussian Republics. A nation that is across the ocean from the newly formed country, The Karalian Federation, which is made up of the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh Regions. Yuktorussia is a nation made up of 95% ethnic Russians that left the Motherland for independence.

Near a top-secret nuclear facility that houses nuclear weapons, 5 supply trucks drive up to the guard post at the main entrance outside the barbed-wire fence and guard towers that protected the rest of the facility. A Yuke guard brandishing a G-36 assault rifle put his hand up to stop the lead supply truck at the gate.

Speaking in Russian the man said "This is a late delivery, Comrade I need to see identification," the guard said peeking at the passenger in the seat on the other side. "Just a second comrade," the driver replied with a fake smile as he turned his back to dig in the glove compartment. A second guard emerged from the guard post yawning and looking at the stars in the night sky overhead.

As the first guard turned to say something to the second guard, the driver saw his chance and in one quick, crisp, movement he pulled a silenced Walter PPK pistol and shot the first guard in the side of the face. In quick secession, he shot the second guard in the chest before he could lift his rifle, and shot a third guard in the head as that guard was exiting the guard post to find out what the hell was going on.

Swiftly, the driver got out of the truck, suspiciously looked around to see if anyone saw what just happened. The passenger pulled out a silenced sniper rifle and shot the guard in the defense tower as he was patrolling. The driver changed the magazine for his Walter and tapped on the side of the truck and signaled to the other drivers as he stole the card key for the gate from the first guard's pocket.

Dozens of elite soldiers of unknown origin hopped out of the back of the tarp covered trucks and onto the snow covered landscape. They had MAC-10's, MP5's and other assorted submachine guns.

The driver, who seemed to be the leader of the group, swiped the card key and the gate opened. 80 highly trained mystery soldiers infiltrated the facility. Little _phew phew phew_ sounds could be heard as the silenced weapons fired on unsuspecting guards and facility employees.

Obviously, whoever these guys were, they didn't want to leave witnesses. After they cleared the facility virtually undetected in 20 minutes, they all regrouped and made their way to the nuclear control room. One man pulled out a laptop and started hacking the computer's mainframe and successfully infiltrated it.

In a strange language close to German the hacker told the commander, who was standing by, "It's ready sir, what do you want me to hit?" The commander looked at him with an evil smile, "Hit a target in the fledgling Karalian Federation, but don't hit anything big," He said pacing the room. "Hit a small target, just something that'll piss them off," He finished with his evil smile growing bigger.

"Launching," the hacker said, staring intently at his laptop. A second later, a siren sounded in the facility as a silo opened and a nuclear missile launched form the underground silo into the sky. "Our stealth choppers are almost here, and we need to get out of here before the Yuke military arrives, or our plan will fail," the commander explained to his elite teams.

As they went outside near the landing zone in the middle of the facility, the commander, filled with emotion, he stared up into the night sky and said prophetically "After two hundred years of 'peace' and silently being exploited by every nation in the world today, our glorious Rycinia will finally have her revenge on the world that shunned her."

As a transport helicopter bearing a crescent moon symbol on the side door landed a few feet from him, he finally yelled to his men, "Let's go home and watch the fun!" All the men cheered as they boarded the numerous transport choppers as they landed in the facility. Halfway around the world, a 14 year old Pokémon trainer with a hat and a Pikachu was about to have his life change forever.

Afterthought

So, what did you guys think? Not bad? A disgrace? Tell me what you guys think. Sorry I didn't have a lot of Pokémon related stuff in this chapter but I wanted to get the plot set up. Hope that's okay. I might need time to kick out another chapter. Thanks for your patience and leave a review!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2- Paradise Lost**

Glad you guys liked my first chapter! It was kind of short and disorganized but I hope I get better as I go. Enjoy guys!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. (Do I really need to put that in**Every** chapter! Please let me know if I don't have to).

Ash had just woken up on the ferry from Sinnoh to Kanto. He was returning home after finishing 4th in the Sinnoh league. His mother had organized his end of the year party for him. He was excited he get home and was on the deck of the ferry looking at Varvoka City, where the ferry was docking.

Varvoka City was a city in which Ash had never been to before on the northern Kanto coastline. It was a small port city with not much attraction but fishing and commercial purposes. The reason why Ash had never been here is probably because it had no gym, contest arena, and not even a Pokémon center.

It was north of Pewter City, where Ash wanted to stop by see Brock on his way home. Brock and Dawn had left Ash immediately after the Sinnoh League to check up on their homes. They all decided that they might meet up Ash's coming home party afterward.

"There it is buddy," Ash said to Pikachu, who was yawning on Ash's shoulder. "We've never been here before but it sure looks nice," Ash said as the ferry pulled into the harbor. A lazy "Pika Pika," was all he received.

Eventually, after a 'quick' breakfast at a breakfast buffet restaurant, they headed into the city to check it out before they set off for Pewter City. On the way however, on the side of the street they were walking on were TV's in the window of an electronics store.

Ash wanted to see what was going on so he went in for a closer look as Pikachu hopped off his shoulder to get a closer look. Dozens of people crowded the entrance staring at the TV's. Ash was finally able to see the screen clearly when he heard something he wish he hadn't. A female news anchor explained the story.

"National Alert: A tragedy has struck the Karalian Federation! At 0400 hours last night a small nuclear device penetrated our airspace without detection and has obliterated a small town in the Kanto region known as Pallet Town! The missile exploded directly over the city killing everything within a 20 mile radius and left no survivors." Her voice was shaking from the horror and surprise as she reported.

"The missile's origin, unidentified until now, was discovered by military intelligence specialists at the Karalian Strategic Defense Command at Carson Air Force Base, outside of Saffron City. The KSDC informed us that the missile originated from a nuclear missile silo in the Yuktorussian Republics across the ocean. The President of Karalia, Carl Hampton, has been pleading the Senate for an official declaration of war against the Yuktorussian Republics."

Tears started forming on the news anchor's face, "As w—we prepare for a fu—full scale war against Yuk-torussia, we c-can only hope th-that this will not get – out of hand," She stopped as a film crew person handed her a box of tissue, she blew her nose and finished, "God help us." She finished solemnly as the screen switched to a satellite video of the nuclear warhead exploding over Pallet Town.

Pikachu looked at the screen with total shock and looked back at Ash. Ash's face was frozen on the spot. He didn't know what to do or think. A tear formed on the right side of his face and he turned and ran down the street at full speed, bumping into panicking bystanders on the way. The street turned into a crazed, paranoid, group of Karalian citizens as Pikachu struggled to find Ash in the mess.

Ash was already a block away running with tears rapidly streaming down the side of his face. His mind began reeling. "_Why? Why did they do this? What's the point? Mom…she's gone. Professor Oak…gone. All the Pokém – Friends that I have collected in Professor Oak's lab…gone. Everything was gone._ He blindly turned another corner and sprinted to nowhere in particular. Pikachu was trying to find its master in the chaos and confusion of people who never knew war. But now they will. They don't even know.

**Karalian Strategic Defense Command Headquarters- 2 miles outside of Saffron City-0945 Hours**

"General," a young lieutenant said to General Crawford, Supreme Commander of all Karalian Defense Forces, "I think you need to see this sir," the lieutenant reported to Crawford while snapping a quick salute. Crawford returned it and the lieutenant handed him classified documents.

"Sir, I was told to inform you that one of our submarines from the 8th fleet defected and headed toward the Yuktorussian coastline. Next, they located a Yuke destroyer and torpedoed it sir," the lieutenant finished. "They what!" the general screamed. "Don't they know how to follow orders! I said patrol the coast not attack it!"

Judging by the body language, the younger of the two was feeling quite uncomfortable. Crawford put his hand on his forehead, "How bad was it Johnson?" The lieutenant regained his bearing and explained, "The Yuke destroyer _The Miktail_ went down with all hands sir, and the Yukes aren't too happy about it," he finished. "Of course they not happy about it," the general sighed and continued, "Well, there's no turning back now," He said regretfully.

"One more thing sir, our 8th fleet retreated after they saw a huge Yuktorussian strike force assembling near their coastline sir," the general looked irritated after hearing this, "I didn't order a retreat! I need to talk to those 8th fleet boys about following orders when they get back, for now, mobilize our Navy and Air Force in Olivine City in the Johto region," the general looked at the city nearby, "Looks like we're going to be in for a fight,"

He finished and entered the facility that was behind him, carrying the documents. The lieutenant did an about-face and prepare to return to his duty station in Olivine City.

Afterthought

There's chapter two, I hope you guys enjoyed that and there will be more! (Once I think of it) Anyway, I can't tell you how excited I was when I found out that people where actually reading my story! Thanks guys and review!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3- A Glimmer of Hope?**

Hey guys, do any of you know what the hell, "Only bad and uneducated writers make their stories politically motivated," means? Hold on a second, I'll talk to the reviewer…..

To: bloodscorpion88

Hey buddy, you sent me a review that I am curious about. I just want to know, was that just a warning about my story or were you flatout insulting me? I don't mind criticism, and I can care less whether you like my story or not, but (let me know if I am misinterpreting this) saying that I am "bad" and "uneducated" might be taking it a little too far. I don't care if you hate my story's guts or not, that's your opinion and I respect that. However, I do not tolerate personal insults. So please, send me another review. I want you to tell me what you think is wrong with my story, that way I can accommodate you and the rest of the readers here. Thank you for your time and reading my story and I hope we can work this out without further issues.

Sincerely,

Sean a.k.a. Like A Boss2

Sorry about that guys, just something I had to do. I hope you understand. As planned, the story continues.

I do not own this song or any other songs that I may use in my story.

**By Myself –Linkin Park **

(For full effect, listen to the song on YouTube while reading the song portion of the chapter).

The hotel room that Ash was staying in was quiet. Ash was sniffling with a pillow over his face, trying to remember all the good times he had with all that were lost in the blast. His mom, his Pokémon, Professor Oak, Tracy, and anyone else he could remember.

Pikachu was on the bed trying to comfort his master and best friend. Pikachu had also lost friends in the attack as well. Although he was crushed too, his main concern was helping Ash cope.

Ash's best friend, the little yellow rodent sitting on the bed, thought it might be a good idea to play some music, and went over to the dresser where the radio was. As he pushed the 'ON' button, the radio was blasting an old rock/rap song that knocked Pikachu off the dresser and onto the floor, knocking him out cold for a minute.

Ash got lost into the song that was playing.

_What do I do to ignore them behind me?_

_Do I follow my instincts blindly?_

_Do I hide my pride from bad dreams?_

_And give in to sad thoughts that are maddening?_

_Do I sit here and try to stand it?_

_Or do I try to catch them red-handed?_

_Do I trust some and get fooled by phoniness_

_Or do I trust no one and live in loneliness?_

Ash was feeling just like the words in the song as they were sung. He gripped his pillow tighter to attempt to get all the pain out. Still in tears, he continued to listen.

_Because I can't hold on when I'm stretched so thin_

_I make the right moves but I'm lost within_

_I put on my daily façade but then_

_I just end up getting hurt again_

_By Myself [myself]_

_I ask why, but in my mind I find_

_I can't rely on myself_

_I ask why, but in my mind I find_

_I can't rely on myself_

"Why?" Ash thought. "Why did this happen? Maybe I could have helped them if I would have gotten home faster. Maybe I could have done something," he thought even though he knew that there was no way he could've predicted a nuclear strike on his home town.

The song continued.

_I can't hold on _

_To what I want when I'm stretched so thin_

_It's all too much to take in_

_I can't hold on_

_To anything watching everything spin_

_With thoughts of failure sinking in_

This song was ripping him to his core. He knew that he should probably stop it, but he wanted it to keep playing anyway.

_If I _

_Turn my back I'm defenseless _

_And to go blindly seems senseless_

_` If I hide my pride and let it all go on then they'll_

_Take from me 'till everything is gone_

_If I let them go I'll be outdone_

_But if I try to catch them I'll be outrun_

_If I'm killed by the questions like a cancer_

_Then I'll be buried in the silence of the answer_

_By myself [myself]_

_I ask why, but in my mind I find _

_I can't rely on myself_

Ash assumed, in his case, that the singer and rapper were talking about the Yuktorussians there. Tempted to listen he removed the pillow and sat up as the song continued.

_I can't hold on_

_To what I want when I'm stretched so thin_

_It's all too much to take in_

_I can't hold on_

_To anything watching everything spin_

_With thoughts of failure sinking in_

All of a sudden the song simmered down a bit….

_How do you think I've lost so much _

_I'm so afraid that I'm out of touch_

_How do you expect… I will know what to do_

_When all I know_

_Is what you tell me too_

The song suddenly erupted and filled the room as Ash let his feelings, all of them, sink in.

_Don't you __Know!_

_I can't tell you how to make it __Go!_

_No matter what I do, how hard I __Try!_

_I can't seem to convince myself __Why!_

_I'm stuck on the outside_

_I can't hold on _

_To what I want when I'm stretched so thin_

_It's all too much to take in _

_I can't hold on_

_To anything watching everything spin_

_With thoughts of failure sinking in_

_I can't hold on _

_To what I want when I'm stretched so thin_

_It's all too much to take in_

_I can't hold on_

_To anything watching everything spin_

_With thoughts of failure sinking….. _

As the song concluded, Ash knew that he needed to talk to somebody.

Now.

**KSDC Headquarters-1045 hours**

A pissed off General Crawford burst into the control room wanting answers. "General on sight," a captain yelled as everyone got off of their seats and they all stood at attention, giving Crawford salutes he returned them and walked to the nearest radar operator as everybody else in the room returned to their seats.

"What's the status on that Yuke assault force?" He demanded from the operator. "Sir the enemy strike force stands at 225 assorted naval vessels: Submarines leading the formation, destroyers at the second layer, a few heavy cruisers behind them, and behind all that sir, they've got three aircraft carriers and a hell of a lot of transport ships possibly carrying amphibious landing craft," the operator finished, catching his breath.

"Amphibious landing craft? An invasion?"Crawford looked at the radar screens in disbelief. "Aww shit! It is an invasion! I want everything we've got in naval and air forces to engage them in the sea! Speaking of air forces, how does theirs look?" He asked the operator. "Sir, they've got, according to our radar,:850 MIG fighters, 490 heavy bombers, 300 transport C-130's, hundreds of attack and transport helicopters, and 610 fighter-bombers. And that's minus the carrier planes," the operator finished again.

"What about us, what do we have?" Was the general's last question. The operator informed him again, "We have 188 assorted naval vessels, 440 Raptor fighters, 320 heavy bombers, no transport aircraft, few helicopters, mostly transport, 252 fighter-bombers, and we only have one aircraft carrier in the area _The Saffron_, and some coastal SAM's and defense turrets," the exhausted radar operator finished.

"Looks like we'll be slightly outnumbered then," the general stated in disappointment.

**Varvoka City-1055 hours**

Ash looked at his Pokénav looking for people to call. He had tried everyone, he thought. Brock…..no answer, Dawn….voicemail, Misty…voicemail, he kept scrolling until he saw one number that he thought might work.

"Why not right?" He asked Pikachu, who had recovered from his fall, nodded in agreement. "Okay, here we go," he sighed as he pressed the call button. It rang for few moments and as Ash was about to hang up, his call was answered.

"Ash?" A scared and frightened female voice answered.

Ash pulled the Pokénav to his ear,

"May, is that you?" He said nervously.

"Yes, it's me, and I'm sorry about what happened to your home, and everybody there, it must've been terrible having to hear about that!" She said sympathetically.

"It was," Ash replied, "It hurts real bad when you realize that everything's gone," He said with his voice starting to quiver.

"Ash," May said softly on the other line, trying to understand what Ash was feeling. When she got frustrated because she couldn't, her brain hatched an idea.

"Hey Ash,"

"Yeah?"

"When my parents saw what happened to Pallet Town, they were very scared and paranoid. Also, they felt sorry for you. So I have something to ask you," May said as she thought of what say next.

"What's that?" Ash said, he wasn't expecting this and was confused.

"I'll ask my parents, but since you don't exactly have a home, you can stay with us," She finished.

"Why? Brock's closer," Ash said kind of bluntly.

"Because in his paranoia, dad is already building a bomb shelter under our house, so you will safe here," She started, "And don't you think Brock has enough people to take care of, I mean c'mon Ash I know how your appetite is, and that might put to much stress on Brock," She explained, trying to convince Ash to come.

"Even though I don't appreciate you making fun of my appetite, I suppose your right, I'll just take a ferry or something and be there in a few days, okay?" Ash said, thinking about how hosed Brock probably is with his numerous brothers and sisters to take care of.

"That's fine, see you soon Ash" May said as she hung up.

"Okay, bye," Ash responded as he hung up as well.

Thinking for once, he checked his supplies and remaining money to calculate the trip to Petalburg City and reasoned that he had enough.

C'mon Pikachu, to our new home….I guess," he said with a lack of confidence as he opened the door to the hotel room.

"Pika,Pi?" Was the yellow rodent's response as he didn't know what his master was talking about.

They exited the hotel headed for a new home. A glimmer of hope.

Afterthought

Epic song, right? I know it was kind of depressing but I thought that it was necessary.

Anyways, I don't know when my idea factory (my brain) will kick out another chapter. So please be patient and let me know what I'm doing right and what to work on. So, throw me a review.

Thanks, guys!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4- First Battle of Keres Ocean (Naval/Aerial)**

He he…Chapter 4, reminds me of the song by Avenged Sevenfold. Thanks for the advice guys; I'll definitely remember everything you told me. And DLshadow, don't worry, violence is on the way! Okay, in this installment, expect blood, bombs, and bullets…..Yes, lots of bullets.

Ash was on the ferry from Varvoka City to Littleroot Town. The captain of the ferry had just said over the intercom that it would be a three day trip. Ash was on the deck of the ship, leaning on the railing on the very edge. He had a soda in one hand and his ticket in the other.

He was lost in thought about his future. He was still coming to grips that his home and family were gone. He also thought about what he should do next in his life. Going on another Pokémon journey was going to be tough with the world on the brink of a massive war. Besides, his mother had always funded his travels and now she was gone. He was lost. He had no idea what to do next, expect make it to Petalburg City.

_Yeah, I'll just focus on that for now, I'll worry about the rest later, _He thought to himself. Pikachu was sleeping on Ash's shoulder, exhausted after that nightmare of a day yesterday. Ash was thought he should just get some sleep too, but he turned towards the cabins, a deafening noise rocked the entire ferry.

Everybody, including Ash and the now awake Pikachu, was covering their ears from the mystery noise. As Ash looked up he saw a jet with red stars painted on its wings rocketing towards the ferry at over 600 MPH. It was coming head on, right for the ferry.

Everybody dropped to the floor and took cover as the jet opened fire on the ferry, pelting it with 20mm cannon rounds. Ash could hear the rounds penetrate the ship's deck. After the jet passed, Ash heard what sounded like a middle-aged man screaming in pain.

Ash moved towards the noise and found a man lying on the middle of the deck, out in the open. He ran over to the man and went down to a knee to help him. The man was bleeding all over and gripping his arm.

_Wait a second, _Ash thought as he noticed something. Upon closer inspection Ash realized that what the man was holding wasn't an arm. It was a stump where the man's arm used to be. Ash was horrified and froze on the spot. He had never seen or even imagined anything like this before. It almost made him sick.

Then, a ferry employee screamed, "Hey kid, forget him and get to the cabins, that Thing is coming back!" Ash turned and looked to the skies and saw that the jet was going to make another strafing run, so he grabbed the wounded man and tried to drag him towards cover inside the cabin area of the ship.

As the jet was about to unload another hail of small cannon rounds and kill Ash and the wounded man, out of nowhere a heat-seeking missile slammed into the left side of the MIG, and the MIG exploded into a fire ball as it crashed into the water, about 40 feet from the ferry. Ash saw what just happened, and couldn't explain it at all. A split second later, two Karalian F-22 Raptors soared over the wreckage of the downed MIG at 700MPH.

Everybody, except for Ash and the wounded man, started cheering as the two high-tech fighters barrel-rolled left or (checked left) to return to their base.

"Yeah!" The employee was shouting, "Kill all those Yuke bastards!"

Ash was kind of surprised and shocked after hearing that, not only because he wasn't accustomed to insults like that, but also because he had never seen anyone that actually wanted another human being dead. These last few days either have or will change Ash's way of thinking for the rest of his life.

At the time he didn't think much about it, he just focused on getting the wounded man medical attention, and tried to wrap the man's wound with blood getting all over him and the wounded man. _Man, I really wish Brock was here, He'd know what to do,_ Ash thought as he tried to tend to the man.

**Keres** **Ocean- 1250 hours**

Admiral McAdam was staring at the enemy fleet through his binoculars. He was astonished by what he saw. Hundreds of Yuktorussian ships filled the ocean across from him and the enemy air force was turning the sky black, it seemed to him. He knew that this was not going to be easy.

He decided to ask the Yuke admiral for a peace negotiation, and all he got for a response was a Yuktorussian sub stuffing a torpedo up McAdams's lead destroyer's rear-end and sinking it.

**NOT SO FUNNY NOW RIGHT?** Was what the Yuke Admiral sent to McAdam in a telegram right after the attack. When he got the message, McAdam cursed that retarded 8th fleet for sinking that lone Yuke destroyer yesterday.

"Sir, orders to open fire?" A subordinate asked him. "Well, looks like we don't have a choice now, do we? Send this message to every vessel, plane, airman, and seaman we've got," McAdam said urgently. He didn't see the point in stalling anymore. If the Yukies wanted a fight, he'd give them one.

"ALL UNITS, OPEN FIRE!"

**KSDC Headquarters- 1330 hours**

Crawford received a message from Admiral McAdam, telling Crawford to contact him immediately, and that it was urgent. Crawford entered the control room and everyone snapped at attention and saluted him. He returned them a salute and went to a radio operator (different from the last guy, that guy was a **radar** operator).

Crawford answered the radio and waiting from him on the other end was "Dammit Brad, I'm getting my ass kicked over here and you want to take your sweet time?" McAdam was obviously on the other end and pretty irritated.

"What the hell's going on Andy? Did the Yukes break your defense line already? Gee, I thought you were a better fleet admiral than that!" Crawford said, laughing into the radio receiver. "That's not funny, you asshole!" McAdam was pissed off by this point.

"I need reinforcements, but not because my line broke. I need them to replenish my perimeter because I'm holding out just fine, it's just that when I take casualties, my line gets thinner and I have to cover more space with less forces. Understand?" Crawford now changed to a more professional and serious demeanor.

"Andy, I'm sorry but it's going to take three days to scrap together the reinforcements you need. Everybody is spread all over the damn place and I won't be able to get them together in time. Sorry," He said, being sincere.

"Are you sure you can't throw me something? These Yukes are idiots for launching frontal assault after frontal assault, and I've wiped out a good portion of their forces. If I can bleed out their numbers here, I can stop their invasion cold, but I just need some reinforcements to do it. Come on Brad, there's got to be something," McAdam pleaded his childhood friend while getting pretty desperate.

"I'm sorry Andy, but I can't help you. Really, if I had reinforcements, I'd give them to you, but the simple fact is that I don't. I told you, my forces are scattered and by the time I can get them together, it would be too late. I'm sorry Andy, I really am," Crawford starting to feel sorry for his friend.

"What I am I supposed to do now?" A fearful Andy asked.

"Sound a retreat, have your men survive to fight another day," Crawford told McAdam.

"Roger that over and out," a disappointed McAdam said in a beaten tone.

**Keres Ocean-1335 hours**

McAdam had just gotten off the radio with General Crawford. He listened to the radio to hear what the men were saying, and to check on the situation. This is what he heard:

"This is Raticate 1, Fox two…..missile hit, target destroyed. This is Viper 6, we've lost our squadron leader. This is the heavy cruiser, _The New Bark_, abandon ship, an enemy bomber just dropped a huge payload on our ammo dump. This is Charmander 4, I've got one on my tail, I can't shake him! This is Avius 1, I'll get him…..nailed his ass! This is Skitty 2 I've been hit, ejecting….dammit the controls are malfunctioning, AHHHH….(static) .

McAdam turned off the radio. It was all too much for him. He had lost his first battle. He would have been disappointed at the Karalian Armed Forces for being disorganized, if Karalia wasn't a new country. But most of all, he put the blame in himself. He was the boss who was supposed to lead his men to victory and had failed them.

"Sound the retreat," McAdam told his subordinate.

"But sir, where are we supposed to go?" The subordinate replied.

"Olivine City, we'll regroup there," McAdam said with defeat hanging on his mind. He tried to gather what was left of his forces and head back to the Johto coastline, while trying not to think about all the service members that had lost their lives today.

Now the road to Karalia is open for Yuktorussian invasion.

Where will they hit?

Afterthought

Wow, I really didn't think I'd update this quickly. Just a lot of time on my hands today is all.

I hope you all enjoyed that and more action is on the way!

Give me time, and please review. See ya!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5- Build Up

Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed your holidays! Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza, Happy Jihad Day, or whatever the hell you celebrate. (So there's no confusion, I made up that last one. Sorry, I haven't studied any Muslim holidays). I wanted to give you guys a Christmas side story but I got caught up in family and also thought that I should just focus on this story for now. I also thought about doing some comedy spoof stories after I'm finished with this story and its sequels but that is a long way off in my mind. Hope you understand.

Bad ass. Let's continue.

The bullet-riddled ferry docked in Littleroot Town. It had started to leak from all the cannon rounds that penetrated it. Once the ferry docked, repairmen and paramedics were the first people on it from Littleroot. Ash and the wounded man exited the cabin area to the main deck where the medics were.

They both looked terrible. The man had a first aid wrap around his shoulder and he was still bleeding through the wrap. Ash, after trying to help the man before the employees started to assist, had blood covering his hands and face. He looked so bad; the paramedics thought that he was wounded too.

Once Ash had convinced the medics that the man was the only wounded one, he got cleaned up with the medic's help and turned the man over to them.

"He'll be fine with us kid, I do like your attitude though," the medic said when Ash wanted to continue to help. The medic waved him off, and Ash left the ferry hoping the man was alright. He decided to continue his journey to Petalburg City.

It had been three days since he had gotten the call from May, and he couldn't explain it but he wanted to get there quickly. He couldn't figure out why, so he pushed the thought out of his head.

Then, he started to think about his recent experience on the ferry. The cannon rounds, the man's arm, the man, all of it. He just wanted to forget it and move on. It was already too much losing Pallet Town and all of his Pokémon, even his Sinnoh Pokémon that he had sent home in front of him. He really wished he hadn't done that. All he had left was that loyal electric mouse on his shoulder.

"Pi?" Pikachu looked at a deep-in-thought Ash with a worried looked on its face.

"Huh? What? Oh, I'm fine buddy, let's continue," Ash lied, as they started to move toward Olddale Town.

"I remember taking this route," Ash thought to himself as thoughts of May drifted back into his head.

**KSDC Headquarters- 0825 hours**

"What have you got?" Crawford asked a radar operator.

"Sir, most of the enemy forces are moving towards the Hoenn Region," the operator responded.

"Where in the Hoenn Region," the general inquired,

"And why are there dots behind the enemy," Crawford asked while pointing at the radar screen.

"Sir, it appears that there approaching the coast of Rustboro City, and the red dots are enemy reinforcements from Yuktorussia, probably to replace their losses from that squall in the middle of the ocean," the operator replied.

"Damn, looks like they have an army big enough to conquer the entire planet," the general said in disdain, still looking at the screen.

"Sir, I thought you might want to know that the invasion force includes transport planes," the operator told him.

"I know that, what I don't know is what's inside of them," the general said.

"Well sir, we don't know for sure but we've heard from certain sources that the contents of the aircraft are paratroopers," the operator explained.

"Paratroopers?" Crawford asked.

"But not just any paratroopers, these ones are none other than the Yuktorussian Spetsnaz. They're a model of the original Russian Spetsnaz," the operator answered.

"So, special forces huh? I guess I'll make my own Special Forces Corp myself," Crawford said in deep thought, exercising his strategic mind.

"But how?" He thought to himself. Suddenly he got an excellent idea. Since Karalia didn't have any special forces he'd make his own and train them as quickly and efficiently as he could.

All he needed now was recruits.

**Littleroot Town to Olddale Town and Olddale Town to Petalburg City-0915 Hours**

Ash was continuing towards Olddale Town, still thinking about all the good times he had with May, and those thoughts made him smile. Ash needed to have something like this or something crazy like suicide was inevitable. Was that why Ash had agreed to May's offer? To save himself? Or was it something else?

"Weird, he hasn't smiled in the last three or four days, but now he just randomly starts to be happy? I wonder what he's thinking about," Pikachu thought.

As they continued a Dragon Rage shot Pikachu off of Ash's shoulder. Pikachu did a back-flip and landed on his feet. Ash looked back at Pikachu to make sure it was okay, and then looked in front of him.

About 20 yards in front of him, he spotted a lone Dratini. The Dratini seemed to be overly aggressive as it continued to fire attacks like Dragon Rage and Icy Wind at both of them.

Ash leaped towards the side of the road, dodging a Icy Wind.

"Pikachu, give it a Thunderbolt, and then follow up with an Iron Tail," Ash shouted. Pikachu obeyed its master and zapped the Dratini and then quickly closed the distance between the two and smacked it over the head with an Iron Tail. The Dratini skidded backwards and answered with a Dragon Rage.

Pikachu dodged it and landed in front of Ash, waiting for another command.

"Now use Thunder, and follow it up with a Volt Tackle." Ash ordered Pikachu. Pikachu, for the second time zapped the Dratini with Thunder and closed the distance once more with a Volt Tackle. Sparks can be seen emanating from the yellow rodent as it charged towards the baby dragon while chanting, _pika pika pika pika pika._

The Dratini didn't know what to do and let Pikachu slam into its side, and right then Ash threw a Pokeball at the downed Dragon. The Dratini materialized into the ball and tried to struggle, but when the ball's light turned off and the ball clicked, Ash knew he had caught it.

He picked up the ball and continued towards Olddale Town. Eventually, they made it and Ash had Pikachu and his newly caught Dratini rest in the Pokémon Center. The next morning they left the Center and Olddale Town and headed towards Petalburg City.

As they strolled, they saw military jets and helicopters fly over them towards the coast.

"I wonder if we're winning or losing," Ash thought, while in awe of his country's supposed military strength, looking the friendly aircraft above.

"Hey kid, I think you're going the wrong way," Ash looked down in front of him to see who said that and saw two Karalian soldiers standing in the middle of the road looking at him and dozens of others on the right side, tending to a convoy of tan Humvees that broke down. The Humvees were heavily armored with 50 cal. Machinegun turrets on their roofs.

The soldiers were wearing tan cameo battle dress uniforms, black combat boots, and Kevlar helmets styled like World War 2 German helmets, with tan cameo, a green targeting eyepiece attached to the helmets that covered every trooper's right eye. It looked like the sight of a sniper's scope over each trooper's right eye with cross-shaped lines and a large circle that cuts through the middle of the cross. The cross met in the middle of the eyepiece, where the troopers' eyes were. This special, high-tech eyepiece was a targeting system for the soldier and also a flashlight, for anyone who wanted to know.

Each helmet had a metal silver star on the forehead part of the helmet. They were shouldering M16A2 assault rifles with grenade launcher attachments. They spoke to Ash once more.

"Kid, you should really turn around unless you're wearing a uniform or carrying a gun 'cause you're heading into a warzone," one trooper warned Ash. Ash continued to walk and eventually passed them.

The other soldier began taunting Ash in a southern drawl, "Hey boy, ya you, you should listen ta Alan. Ya don't want to let them Yukies git ya by goin' that way, you stupid dipshit! Hey, I'm talkin' to you," the soldier continued at a fading Ash until his friend stopped him,

"Come on Billy, that's enough, you probably scared the kid shitless," the first trooper said as they both broke out in laughter.

Ash could care less what they had to say about him as he continued to walk. He just wanted to get to Petalburg already.

Afterthought

What did you think guys? I'm trying to make my chapters longer and add more detail. Sorry about the lack of action, I have a huge battle planned and that's when the killing, fighting, and dying will continue.

I don't know if you guys caught this but, I also realized I didn't describe the last battle very well, I kinda rushed it and I'm sorry about that. I promise to make my story better the best I can.

Thanks guys, and review. (Your comments are important!) Until next time!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6- Unexpected Espionage

Hey guys! It's me again. I'm kind of veering the course of the story here, so bear with me. This chapter will reveal much and may leave you with more questions than answers. Here we go…

**Baltov City-People's Republic of Rycinia-2200 Hours**

A man around 32 years old was sitting in an almost empty coffee shop, enjoying a hot piping cup of Latte. Across the street was the palace that held the communist government of Rycinia, snug in the 'great' capital city. Rycinia was a small and miserable nation, well for the commoners at least.

Everyone was poor, no money, no belongings worth anything, and backbreaking jobs with terrible pay. Beggars in the streets, and dead bodies lying in the alleyways of people who couldn't take the lack of essentials in this crumbling economy and had died from malnutrition. Food was something only the rich, while the ones who didn't have money had to get creative or die starving.

The man in the shop had seen this unfold on a daily basis for fourteen years. It gave him more reason to do his job. He was wearing business attire with a suit and tie. A suitcase was lying on the ground on his right side. He had raven black hair and a clean-shaven face. He was about 5'8 in height, and had a muscular build.

Officially, he worked for an arms manufacturing depot next to the palace and sometimes had clearance inside of the palace to show the Chancellor's underlings new weapons for the army. This job was perfect for his second job, cause once he was inside, the real work started.

The man's given birth name was Anthony Ketchum. However, in Rycinia, his name was Victor Gobechov. He was a former agent for the Kanto Defense Intelligence, until now, when he received orders that he was now a member of the new Karalian RIA, or Republican Intelligence Agency.

He had also received direct orders from Richard Carson, president of the Karalian Federation, that Victor (Anthony) should continue his mission until he has found incriminating evidence that the Rycinian government has been mistreating their citizens, and hiding wealth from them. Anthony had followed these orders to the letter.

Problem was, that letter came before the war, and now his homeland has forgotten him as they struggle to stop an invasion. When Anthony heard about the invasion, many things started happening. Some strange, some normal.

First, he thought of home. He thought of his family. His wife was pregnant when he left, supposedly for a humanitarian mission for the Red Cross, in another shithole country like the one he spent 14 years in, gathering intelligence. He had never seen his offspring before. He didn't know if Delia had a son or a daughter. Not being there for his kid. That's what racked him with guilt all these years.

His family and friends didn't even know what his real job was, he wondered what everyone at home thought what happened to him. He also thought about what his kid may look like when he got home. He thought about that one a lot.

He has been especially on edge for the past few weeks, not because of the weird coincidence that when, right when the war started back east, there has been a sudden influx of weapons production here in Rycinia. Sure, Rycinia borders Yuktorussia from the west, but they were far from the battle lines.

He was on edge mostly because of that nuclear explosion that started the damn war. It had hit in Pallet Town, where his family was. He worried that whatever he had left back home was just vaporized in a split second.

Because of this, he couldn't focus at his cover job. The Rycinian workers thought it was strange when their assistant manager would just stare at the Kalashnikovs as they were produced from the conveyor belt. He was definitely bothered. He didn't know if his family was dead or alive.

Also, according to his sources, the Rycinian military was acting strangely. He had heard rumors of them building a super weapon, an airship that can drop nuclear weapons, and can defend itself from fighters by firing its laser cannons, which were supposed to be decked on the sides of the airship. The idea sounded like a terrible joke, but you can never be too sure.

Investigating inside the palace, he discovered that the Rycinian government was indeed hiding the wealth from the citizens. He found out that Rycinia had billions of credits in the government treasury, and only 5% went to the citizen's well-being. 80% went towards the military and government jobs, like Anthony's.

And that the other 15% was a mystery, Could that be funding for the airship? After seeing this, he knew he would be executed on the spot if he told the people, however, it might also start a rebellion that might be able to overthrow the corrupt government here.

"It's too bad no one knows what really goes on," he thought to himself.

He also knew that Team Rocket has been funding the Rycinian government in exchange for small arms, mostly Kalashnikovs and pistols. He wondered what Team Rocket needed with firearms, and what the Rycinians where going to do with the extra money.

"Scheming little bastards," Anthony thought, referring to Team Rocket.

He left the coffee shop, picking up his suitcase and giving the cashier a hefty tip. Then, he exited the building and headed down the street, where his apartment was. Numerous beggars ask him for change as he passes by, he hands them pennies and continues on.

When he reaches his dark apartment, he locks the door and turns on the light, as it was evening and he had just got home from work. There was an AK-47 (Kalashnikov) mounted on his wall, given to him for being promoted from factory worker to assistant manager.

It was fully loaded with 7.62mm rounds and a banana shaped magazine sticking out of the bottom. Anthony had about 12 spare fully loaded magazines for the weapon, in case he was compromised. He also kept a Glock 45 under his bed, given to him by the agency, and he had 5 spare magazines for that weapon and a silencer.

He drops the suitcase on the floor and starts his nightly routine of changing his clothes and showering. After he finishes, he heads off to bed and watches the news until he falls asleep. This has been his routine since Pallet Town was wiped off the map. Maybe there was a chance they were still alive, maybe.

Afterthought

This put a cute little twist on things didn't it? If you have any questions, I'll have them answered in the story if it applies to what's going on. Until next time! (Your comments are vital!)


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7- Time to Cope, Time to fight

I'm back! In case you haven't noticed, I like to take a break from writing to look at other peoples work. I like to learn from them so I can get better. Also, I look at great writers that stopped their stories cold and why. And made it so I wouldn't pull something like that. Geckoguy555, I hope you're doing alright with your revised version, I can't wait for that epic of awesomeness to come out, and thanks for the reviews. You and DLshadow have been giving me great tips and feedback!

Anyone who likes excessive violence is going to love this chapter! (Wait, no one would have clicked on my story if they didn't like violence right?) Also, there will be others things as well.

Petalburg City came into view as an exhausted and wet Ash approached the city, with a just as wet and irritated Pikachu trying to dry itself off by rubbing its yellow fur, on Ash's shoulder. On Ash's will, they had traveled through the entire night without stopping, (except for dinner) and had to face a heavy rainstorm along the way. Then, they traveled the entire next day, and it was night again.

The ground was slippery as Ash slid on some mud and slammed his face into the ground. Pikachu, being on Ash's shoulder, also went face first into the mud. After some groaning in pain, Ash pulled a towel out of his pack and wiped off his face and Pikachu's. They both got up and relentlessly continue to Petalburg.

Ash also heard popping sounds and numerous flashes in the distance, towards Rustboro. He thought the storm had hit their too, but then realized it wasn't a storm when he saw military aircraft zooming towards the coast at mach 2.

He had finally made it to the city and had remembered how to get to the Petalburg Gym.

"Well, here goes nothing," Ash said to no one in particular. Pikachu looked at Ash and then back at the city. They entered with a cool breeze behind them.

**Sky over Rustboro City- 1900 hours**

A Yuktorussian bomber formation of over 100 heavy bombers and twelve fighter escorts, soared over Rustboro City, but their mission wasn't Rustboro City. A Yuke bomber pilot was overlooking the entire formation. He was the flight lead and ensured that all of his underlings saved their payload for the target and to not get trigger-happy over Rustboro.

The amphibious assault was to begin in the morning at first light. The navy had been shelling Rustboro all day and night. He could hear the booming of the massive naval artillery bombardment below.

Hundreds of Yuke C-130's were almost directly behind the bombers, carrying 2,500 Yuktorussian Spetsnaz. They were to drop in immediately after the bombing, and take control of some landlocked city that the bombers were sent to hit. The Spetsnaz were to destroy all Karalian presence in this city and then hold it from counter-attack until reinforcements arrived from Rustboro. This would open up a front in Hoenn.

The Yuke pilot looked at his comrade next to him, and his comrade did nothing but nod and toss the pilot a bottle of Vodka. The way tonight was going to be, that pilot was going to need that bottle of liquid encouragement.

**Petalburg City-1910 Hours**

Ash had reached the doorstep of the Petalburg Gym and home of a family that agreed to take him in. As Ash was about to ring the doorbell, the door flew open and smacked both Ash and Pikachu to the ground. Ash sat up and started rubbing his head, and Pikachu was out cold for the time being, and a entire family rushed out toward him. The two older adults stopped a few feet away, but the other two kept coming. Ash opened his eyes and saw Max and May sprinting at full speed toward him.

"No, wait… don't…ah!" Was Ash could get out they both started to hug him.

"It's good to see you Ash; I'm sorry about what happened!" Max blurted out as he let go and backed up a few steps. He had a worried look on his face. May was still holding, but not saying a thing, just holding him. She wanted so bad to understand what Ash was feeling, and to understand everything he's going through. She couldn't explain it, but she just wanted to understand.

Ash felt strange with just May in his arms. He couldn't explain his feelings, nor did he want to, he just wanted to stay in the moment.

"Sweetie, I think that's enough," an older, but kind female voice said.

"Let go of Ash, he probably needs to clean up. You know a hot shower, and something to eat is all. We'll deal with the rest once that's finished," a male voice said.

"Norman, Caroline, thanks for letting me stay here, trust me, it means a lot," Ash said gratefully as May detached herself from him and backed up.

"Ash, it's no trouble, as soon as we saw what happened, we were shocked and surprised. We were caught completely off guard. But after May had called you, we decided that you staying here was going to be fine. Besides, where else were you supposed to go?" Norman explained, having complete sympathy for Ash's situation.

Then they all, (including Ash and the still knocked out Pikachu) went inside to clean up, and then talk about circumstances over dinner. Little, did they know that things were about to get a lot more complicated.

**Sky over Petalburg City- 1922 Hours**

As the bombers approached their target, surface-to-air missiles started entering the formation as a few bombers exploded and fell out of the sky. Next, 8 Karalian fighters were spiked on Yuke radar and were coming in fast. The Yuke bomber pilot, now buzzed from the Vodka he consumed, saw all of their escorts leave to meet the enemy fighters. The MIGs hit their afterburners to fly in front of the bomber formation.

He looked at his radar and saw that it was 2 minutes to the target. All of a sudden flak bursts appeared everywhere around the bombers. Lit up AA shells could be seen flying upward towards the formation. The bomber next his got a direct hit from flak and exploded, caught fire, and started to sink out of the formation.

More SAMs, about 11, appeared as the bombers tried to pop flares to evade them but 7 missiles hit their mark, and 7 more bombers dropped out of the air. He looked at the monitors and saw that his escorts weren't doing much better. There were only five of them left and all the Karalian fighters were still standing.

"Damn, this is not going well," the pilot thought. As the flak continued and claimed 3 more bombers. He looked at the timer and saw it was time to drop. He gave the signal to start the run, and his navigator started dropping their payload on the city below. The other bombers followed suit and dropped heavy, 2000 pound bombs on the poor city. They started pounding everything, from homes and businesses, to flak cannons and other military targets. Loud booms could be heard as the bombs hit their marks below.

The flak ceased, and the bombers turned around for a second run, and then they would fly straight home. The bombers opened their docking bays for the bombs, and the pilot watched the heavy-duty killers fall from the underside of all the bombers at once. The bombs continued to pound the city below, and once they made the second pass, the C-130's now had their job to do.

The bombers pilot looked back and saw the transport planes dropping little parachutes in the thousands to the city below. He knew that each parachute resembled an elite, cold-blooded killer.

He almost felt sorry for the Karalians. Almost.

**Petalburg City- 1926 Hours**

Ash and the Maple family sprinted through the house to the bomb shelter in the basement. Their house hadn't been hit but the entire place shaking like there was an earthquake. Ash heard cries of help outside and changed direction towards the cries. Pikachu was awake now and had hopped off his shoulder, and ran with Ash to the front door.

Norman saw this and was astounded, he didn't know what Ash was doing, but he knew it was crazy.

"Ash, we'll help them later, you got to come with us," Norman yelled over the noise of gunfire and aircraft engines.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine, I've done this before," Ash yelled back trying to reassure him.

Norman had no idea what Ash was talking about, but decided to join his family in the shelter.

As Norman sprinted for cover, Ash ran outside and saw a small 7-year-old boy crying in the middle the street. Trying to get out of a piece of wall that had fallen from a house, that had smashed the kid's leg into the road, the little boy was panicking and struggling to get out.

As Ash was about to help, two men shouldering AK-74's approached the boy. Ash then stopped to see if they were going to help him. They had green helmets with a red star painted in the middle and were wearing green uniforms. One of them pointed his assault rifle at the boy, and looked at the other solider for approval. The other one just nodded and the first soldier pulled the trigger and pumped numerous rounds at full auto, into the boy's body. Blood jumped out of the body as the boy became quiet.

Ash had realized that these guys had different uniforms than the guys he had run into on the way here. He cursed himself for not realizing that sooner and stopping the soldiers from executing the boy at point-blank range. He was tired of not making a difference and preventing tragedy. He wanted to help, not hurt. Tears formed in Ash's eyes as rage and anger built up inside him.

It was now or never.

"Pikachu, thunderbolt both of them and knock them unconscious!" Ash screamed in anger and grief.

"They're not going to get away with this, not this time," he thought as Pikachu obey his master and pumped electricity into the two Spetsnaz that had their backs turned. The two yelled in pain and then dropped to the floor.

Ash then sprinted over, and with no idea as to what he was doing, he picked up one of the AK's the men had dropped. He pointed it at the unconscious troopers. He didn't know how to work a gun, but luckily it was an AK he was holding. A weapon so simple a child could use it. Still in rage, and unsure of the mechanics of the weapon, he just pulled the trigger and hoped for the best.

The AK erupted in automatic fire, as Ash was shooting it from the hip and watched the rounds penetrate both of the soldiers' bodies and kicking up dust around them. The Kalashnikov finally clicked empty and Ash threw it on the ground, realizing what he had just done.

Pikachu was in shock, staring at the bodies, mouth agape. Ash just realized that he took the lives of two human beings. Enemy or not, he felt terrible and sank to his knees and more tears formed in his eyes.

"So this is what the war reduced me to," Ash thought, sobbing uncontrollably. Then, he felt something tug at his collar. He looked and saw Pikachu gnawing at his shirt trying to tug him back to the Maple household. Ash snapped back into reality and they both got up and ran back towards the house, leaving the flaming homes, the gunfire between the Spetsnaz and Karalian regulars, and the sounds of Karalian Humvees pulling in to support the regulars, behind them.

As he made it inside the shelter, all of the Maples stared at him in disbelief.

"What, happened out there?" Norman asked frantically.

"Something terrible, something so horrible I can't describe it," Ash finished.

They all looked at him with sympathy as they all sat there to wait out the fighting. May, sitting next to Ash, leaned her head on his shoulders for comfort. Ash, his mind elsewhere, accepted this and wrapped his arm over her, most likely for comfort too. Ash's mind drifted towards the most current events.

He had just seen two soldiers mercilessly kill a young boy and he had killed them in turn. Ash's world was falling apart before his eyes. He didn't know what was real anymore. He didn't if he could live with himself after what he had just done. He thought about this as he, Pikachu, and the Maples, tried to wait out the chaos til the morning. But when they come out the next morning, which side will be victorious?

Afterthought

Whew, that was intense, even for me. Well, I tried to balance shipping, action, and emotional trauma, into the story, and I don't think I'm doing a bad job. Now for this, ….who do you think will win the battle overnight, or will the battle continue to rage? Has Rustboro fallen to Yuktorussia or are the defenses there holding their own? Will Ash ever get over his experiences? What do you think? Put your thoughts into a review! Thanks!


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8- Overlooked**

Let's do this…

Fleet Admiral McAdam was in the command center of _The Saffron _overlooking his forces below. He was in relief when the Yuke assault forces decided not to finish him off and invaded Hoenn instead. Of course it wasn't a good thing that Yuktorussia invaded Hoenn but at least now he can get his forces replenished and his losses replaced.

He now had about 12 fighter squadrons in his command now. They had arrived from Johto, courtesy of General Crawford. He also had replaced all of his losses and even gained a few ships and planes from the gathering reinforcements in the Olivine harbor.

"If I had these guys to start with, I could've annihilated the Yukes in that sea battle," he thought to himself, wanting to go back in time.

The Karalian forces had gotten strong enough to where they can at least challenge the Yuke invasion force in Hoenn, to the south. McAdam has even been sending raiding forces of his best submarines, about 55 of them, to chip away at the Yuke fleet by using hit-and-run tactics. The subs would individually lock on to a target; let their torpedoes fly, and then scurry back to the protection of _The Saffron_ in the Olivine harbor.

McAdam was jumping for joy when he had heard the report of the subs first raid. Turns out that the Karalians were able to sink 41 Yuke ships and return home without taking any losses, or even being detected. McAdam had heard that the Yuke admiral didn't even receive word of the attack until all of those ships were already on the bottom of the ocean.

McAdam grinned at his victory, while sipping on a hot cup of coffee that he was holding in his gloved hands. The raids were perfect, although slow. But McAdam had a solution. He liked the raids because the Yukes were taking casualties and he wasn't. However, the raids aren't significant enough to stop the Yuktorussian invasion. It might hinder the Yukes, but it won't destroy them, at least not fast enough.

His solution was to keep the raids coming, and at the same time, build up the strength of his forces in Olivine. Once they were strong enough to take on the invasion fleet, he would launch an attack on the Yuke naval fleet and destroy it outright. That would leave the invasion forces ashore abandoned, with no supplies. Also, with no aircraft carriers, the Yuke air force wouldn't be able to help the troops on the ground. That would strand the Yuke invasion force, and then McAdam will sit back and see what Crawford's men do with them.

He sat back into his chair and thought about that strategy and also thought of other strategies.

He liked that one the best though.

**Rustboro City- 0800 hours**

Alan reloaded his squad's minigun, while being shelled by the enemy's navy. His squad had lost three men during the last 18 hours of defending the beaches near Rustboro City. They were inside a bunker that can see outside towards the ocean. There was a small slit that acted as kind of a window facing towards the oncoming Yuke assault, in the bunker. It was that slit that the minigun was shooting out of, along with the others firing their M16's onto the Yuke-packed beach below. They were many bunkers and trenches like Alan's, defending the beaches.

The sight was horrifying on the beach below. It was littered with the skewered bodies of dead Yukes, killed by machine-guns, rifles, grenades, mines, bombs, you name it. Also, the burning of destroyed Yuke assault vehicles and hover landing craft, were scattered around the beach as well, making it even more difficult to advance. The Yuke infantry were getting sautéed down there.

It was miserable for them the most. The Yuke naval artillery was amazingly inaccurate, and the Yuke air force was distracted with the Karalian air force, neither of these helping the infantry very well. The infantry had watched their comrades being gunned down by snipers in the bunkers, shredded by miniguns, blown to bits by Karalian explosives and the like, for the past 18 hours. Whenever they tried to move forward, it was common knowledge that an alarming number of them will get dropped only after moving a few yards.

Alan had reloaded the minigun, and with the help of two other squad members, he spool the weapon, and let it rip in the direction of the latest Yuke infantry advance. 2,000 rounds a minute was now mowing the Yuke formation down below of about forty men to shreds.

Just then, an explosion rocked the other end of the bunker. Alan was thrown to the ground by the force and suffered an instant concussion. All of his other squad members, except Billy, were dead. The roof of the bunker had been blown off.

There was a ringing in his ears as he went temporarily deaf. He felt his ears with his hands and then looked at them. He saw blood on his hands. He was bleeding from the ears and couldn't hear. Billy ran up to him (Alan was lying on the ground) and pointed to the coastline and was obviously saying something but Alan couldn't hear him.

Billy then, yanked Alan from the ground, and holding him up to where Alan had a perfect view of the battle raging below. He looked at what Billy was pointing at and saw a Yuktorussian medium Marauder Tank, rolling across the beach, and pointing its cannon right back at Billy's finger. Alan realized what was going on.

That tank caused the destruction of the bunker, probably had armor-piercing shells or something like that. Then Alan pointed to the now exposed wall of the bunker, and Billy turned to look and saw a Javelin anti-tank missile launcher leaning against the wall with four missiles sitting on the ground next to it. Billy put Alan down to run over to get it. He put a missile into the tube and ran back over to Alan carrying a second missile in the other hand.

Since Alan was the only one in the entire squad to know how to use one, Billy picked Alan back up and gave the tube to him. Billy then took off the coverings on each side of the tube as Alan tried to get a lock on the tank. The weapon beeped, letting Alan know he had tone and pulled the trigger.

Then, a missile emerged from tube and sailed directly into the sky above the tank. Then, at the last second, the missile sank at an extremely fast speed and accelerated towards the top of the tank. It hit and exploded, sending shrapnel from the tank everywhere.

Alan just took a monster out of commission. As they were preparing to load another rocket, another explosion hit right where both Alan and Billy where standing, killing Billy instantly. Alan opened his eyes and realized that he had flown a few feet. He looked and saw that Billy was dead.

He also felt something else… He looked down at his stomach and saw a huge hole in his abdomen with his guts spilling out. His small intestine was gushing, with blood, out of his body. He lost consciousness as he let death's embrace take him. Just then, a Yuke light tank, a Scorpion, rolled over both of Alan and Billy's bodies and continued to fire at retreating Karalians, as Yuke infantry flooded into the fight from behind the tank. Numerous Scorpion tanks were rolling over the bunkers all over the beach defenses.

The Karalians had let the Yuke tanks bottle up on the beach and had allowed them to continuously grow while not destroying enough of them. Karalian Crusader medium tanks, about 16 of them, rolled up to confront some 50 to 60 Scorpion tanks. All the Crusaders fired their cannons simultaneously, destroying about 13 Scorpions.

The retreating Karalian infantry rallied behind the Crusaders and both sides started to fire on each other in open field combat. They were about 50 yards from each other, and were pouring tanks shells, rounds, and grenades into the ranks of both sides.

Karalia was receiving reinforcements from the land, while Yuktorussia was also receiving reinforcement from the beach continuously while this is going down. Both sides seemed evenly matched.

**Petalburg City- 8026 hours**

Ash had just woken up from the insane night before. Pikachu was still sleeping on the left side of his shoulder. May was asleep on his right shoulder. He gently took off Pikachu from his shoulder and put him on May's lap. Then Ash gently removed May head from his right shoulder and laid her against the wall. After he saw that both of them where sleeping in exhaustion, he looked around and saw that the rest of the Maple family was asleep as well.

He wanted to see how things turned out from the battle last night, so he exited from the bunker and saw that, except for some things getting knocked off the walls, their home was fine. He opened the front door slowly and looked outside.

He saw destroyed homes and businesses, smoke rising from destroyed buildings, debris everywhere from pieces of buildings, to bodies of Karalian civilians and military personnel on both sides. He heard popping sounds in the distance and noticed that it was very cloudy today. He wanted to go outside to get a better look, so he spotted a large piece of a building in the middle of the road and sprinted toward it.

He got there without any resistance and scanned the area around him. He could see bodies of Karalian regulars and Yuke Spetsnaz up the road into downtown Petalburg. Destroyed Karalian Humvees could also be seen, smoking in the middle of the road.

He felt something touch his hand from below and looked down. He cried out in shock as he saw the face of the young boy he saw get executed by the Spetsnaz last night. He backed up, and regained his stance, which at this time, was a crouch. He ran to another piece of debris to get away from that body, and made it without incident.

He saw a patrol of 6 Spetsnaz cross the road adjacent to him speaking Russian loudly, laughing and joking probably, so he stayed quiet and out of sight until they passed. Once they did, he looked up again and saw jets trying to outmaneuver each other in the sky above. He decided that he had enough and returned to the Maple house swiftly and quietly.

For no particular reason he picked up an AK from a dead Spetsnaz along the way. When he reentered the bomb shelter, May, Max, Norman, Caroline, and Pikachu were staring at him and the lethal weapon he was holding.

"Ash, what are you doing with** THAT **thing?" May said worryingly, pointing at the AK snug in Ash's shoulder. Her voice was trembling; she had no clue about guns at all. All she knew is that they killed.

May, Max, and their mother started to freak out in the corner, hugging each other tight, crying. Pikachu looked at Ash with fear, clearly remembering what happened the last time Ash had a gun in his hands. Ash looked at this with dismay and felt that he had to do something about this, that he was the one to take away their fear.

"Here Ash let me see that," Norman said, gesturing to the assault rifle. Ash gave to him in a split second, wondering what Norman was going to do.

Norman shouldered the rifle perfectly, cocked it, and looked down the sight. He saw the magazine, pulled it out and checked the rounds inside. He saw the mag was full with 30 7.62 rounds. He slapped it back into the chamber and cocked it again, and then inspected the weapon like an expert.

The rest of his family was in awe, stopping their moping to watch their father and husband operate a deadly weapon. All this did was freak them out even more. Even so, they stopped moping and watched him to see what he was going to do next.

"Norman, where did you learn how to do that?" Ash asked, astonished that the Petalburg Gym Leader can work the assault rifle like a champ.

"Right, I never told you guys, but when I was 16, I joined the Hoenn National Guard for four years," Norman said, reminiscing.

"I needed the money, so I joined the infantry. Of course there was no war back then, so it wasn't that scary of a job as it is now. I'll have you know that I bought this home, Gym, and even Caroline's wedding ring with Hoenn regional government money. I must say, the Guard really made my life a whole lot better than it once was," Norman finished wanting to go back in time.

"So you're trained?" Ash asked, confused.

"You can say that, never saw combat though, mostly did just humanitarian missions, like natural disasters and such," Norman explained.

"Hey, that's what my dad did! Mom told me he went to a country with extreme poverty before I was born. She just told me that dad said

'I will return once I fix things over there, then I'll come home to you and our child' and then he left and we never saw him again," Ash paused for a moment, "We've haven't had the slightest amount of contact since, we don't even know if he's still alive…" Ash finished as he started to think about what kind of man his father had been and whether he was still alive or not.

"Don't worry Ash, I'm sure, where ever he is, he's fine. Now, how are things outside Ash?" Norman asked with a hint of confidence, pointing the barrel of the AK-74 in the air.

"Things don't look so good, the Yuktorussians have taken over the city, it looks like, and everything else is living a nightmare," Ash paused, still thinking as Pikachu hopped on his shoulder.

"….Oh yeah! If we want to escape, then we have to watch for Yuke patrols. They're everywhere," Ash finished.

"Well, we're going to have to try our luck then," Norman said. He looked back at his stricken family and started to formulate a plan.

"Okay, this is how it's going to go. We are going to leave this house and try to make a run for Mauville City, up north where it's under Karalian control. I'll go first, since I have the gun. Ash, you follow directly behind me. You seem able, so I'll give you a weapon if we can find one on the way. May, you follow behind Ash, Caroline behind May, and Max behind Caroline. Everybody understand?" Norman looked for any resistance to his plan.

All of them nodded their heads in agreement, seeing that there were no other options. Norman led them out of the bomb shelter to the front door pointing the AK in front of him, as if waiting for a Yuke to jump out from a corner.

They reached the door, and everybody stopped as Norman slowly started to open it. The door creaked, and Norman looked back at the others one more time.

He did a head count of some of the civilians that were overlooked by the Spetsnaz. It was amazing the Spetsnaz checked their home while they were sleeping, and didn't find the entrance to the bomb shelter. So they left and continued to search for more innocent civilians to execute in another part of town.

"It's go time guys," he whispered, with an air of confidence as he swung open the door. Unsuspecting of what was outside, he lead them from their old peaceful lives, to a blurry future.

What's waiting on the other side, nobody knows…

Afterthought

I think that this might arguably be my best chapter. Think so? Anyways, to Random, no Call of Duty, although an awesome series, does not influence my stories. The only thing it might do for me is help me with the names of some weapons.

I'm playing Call of Duty Black Ops right now, and I love it, but it doesn't influence my story at all. (The AK is sooooo inaccurate! Even in the game! I hate that gun! It couldn't hit water if it fell out of a boat!)

And yes, Xplosive, this story is Advance shipping, but I'm taking it slow and not trying to dive right into it too quickly. (Saw a lot of good fics ruined that way…)

If you have any other questions, or if you just want to talk to me, PM me or leave a review. To DLshadow, I wish you would get an account bro, that would be awesome! I'm not forcing you or anything like that, but it might benefit you. Anyways, leave a review and I'll see you next time!

See ya!


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9- The Great Escape (Part 1)**

Me again. It seems that as I keep writing, my chapters get longer and it takes me more time to these things. Hopefully, I'm getting better… but no worries! I write because it's a fun hobby and I like to hear what people have to say about my work. I hope all of you enjoy this…

**Disturbed-Voices **(For full effect, listen to it on YouTube!)

Norman led the formation to a piece of rubble from a fallen building across the street.

"Keep your heads down, and stay quiet," Norman whispered to everyone behind him, while turning to them and putting his finger to his lips. They moved swiftly and silently through the ruins of Petalburg City, stopping at everything that was big enough to hide five human beings and a Pikachu.

Pikachu had decided to run alongside them, rather than sit on Ash's shoulder and risk being seen, and/or giving away their position. Before they knew it, they had crossed about three blocks moving eastward towards the road to Olddale Town, without running into any Spetsnaz.

They had found the body of a dead Karalian soldier on the way, which May, Max, and Caroline cringed at for a second, and Norman picked up the dead trooper's M16A2, which was lying on the ground next to the body, and gave it to Ash. Ash, kind of nervous, took the weapon and used the sling attached to it to swing it around his shoulder, so now he can hold it and not lose it.

Norman figured that if they can make it to that road without detection, then they'll be in the clear. Right now, they were about 16 blocks away, but that didn't seem too far for the average person. But this was a different case, Yuktorussian Spetsnaz were crowding the roads and making patrols all over. Their party had just been lucky that no one had spotted them.

As they leaned up against the edge of the wall of a destroyed hotel, Norman looked over the corner and saw 14 Spetsnaz walking on the road, going the opposite way that the escape party wanted to go. Norman gestured to Ash, and him and Pikachu joined Norman at the edge of the wall, peeking out far enough to where they can see out, but not to where they can be easily seen.

Ash saw the Spetsnaz and lifted his rifle to take aim at one. Norman pushed down Ash's M16 barrel and explained:

"I wouldn't do that, there are too many of them. We cannot take them all. Now we are going to wait for them to pass before we continue, got that?" Ash nodded in reply, realizing that he had almost put everybody with him in jeopardy.

"And whatever you do, don't pull that trigger unless you have been spotted, alright?" Norman finished as quietly as he could. Unfortunately, it wasn't quiet enough, as a lone Spetsnaz thought he saw something moving along the corner of the wall. What he saw was Ash and Norman retracting themselves from the wall, and telling the others to run and hide.

Even though they were running away from the road they wanted to get to, it was better than trying to go too fast and get caught. They ran into a ruined shack next to the hotel, Max flinging open the door and running inside, followed by the others.

The Yuke Special Forces trooper thought it was strange to see nothing on the other side of the wall, after he had checked. He had his comrades check all over the street and even inside the hotel but found nothing. He thought this was strange, considering that his trained eyes were taught to see subtle movements like the one he thought he saw. His comrades then called him an idiot in Russian.

They told him that all the civilians in this city were either dead or had escaped already, mainly because about 85% of the inhabitants here had successfully escaped during the raid. He shook his head, and thought something was wrong with the wiring in his head.

"Not enough sleep or Vodka," he reasoned to himself.

In the shack Norman still led the way, slowly and silently clearing all rooms with Ash and his new M16 behind him. Not that there was anything to clear, the shack was completely empty. There were no bodies, so the owner must have scrammed once the bombing had started the night before.

All of them did notice that the shack was kind of strange. It was cluttered with weird knick-knacks, and piled up old newspapers littered the floor. Also, newspapers with entire passages circles in the articles were thumb-tacked to the walls.

Also on the wall, was a poster of the Karalian president's head, Richard Carson. Carson's eyes followed you, no matter where you were in the room. Under Carson's head were big block typed letters saying:

**Big Brother Is Watching You**

which Ash took to be a little creepy. Next to the poster were words written on the wall itself:

**Karalian Government**

which had an arrow pointing towards the head poster in green marker.

"Obviously whoever who lived here must have been a Schizophrenic nutbag," Ash thought to himself, looking at other creepy items and pictures in the room, like signs and posters saying that the end is near or, everybody deserves to die. Things like that. Also, there were pictures of severed human limbs and strange, possibly evil, creatures taped and thumb-tacked to all of the walls.

Ash had also started to think about his own state of sanity. All the things he saw and experiences. All that he had lost. Yet he was still able to chug along at half speed as if nothing happened. Was it something wrong with him or was he just trying to run away from his feelings. Bury them deep in his mind, and to think of them later. Perhaps it was the circumstances that forced him to do this, or think a certain way. All of these complex thoughts jumbled his head to a point where he just gave up on the subject for now.

"Wow, this guy must have had some serious issues," Norman said, frowning at the items on the walls.

"Yeah I know, the whole Karalian Government thing and the Big Brother thing don't make any sense at all. He must have really lost sight of everything," Caroline said, while trying her best not to look at the other scary things mounted onto the walls.

"And besides, who's Big Brother?" May added, also avoiding the frightening and almost Satanic things on the other parts of the walls.

Norman and Ash both laid their rifles against the wall on the left side of the room, both barrels facing upwards. Norman had done so first, and then Ash just copied, seeing that Norman had training and all.

On the desk, against the end wall of the room, a radio next to a computer, was playing a pretty sadistic song.

_So! _

_Are you breathing NO, no_

_Are you breathing So,_

_Are you breathing No_

_Wake up, are you alive_

_Will you listen to me_

_I'm gonna talk about some freaky shit now_

_Someone is gonna die _

_When you listen to me _

_Let the living die, Let the living die_

_(SAY!)_

_Wake up, are you alive_

_Will you listen to me_

_I'm gonna talk about some freaky shit now_

_Someone is gonna die _

_When you listen to me _

_Let the living die, Let the living die_

_(SAY!)_

_Are you breathing, no?_

_Do the wicked see you? _

_You still breathing?_

_You're making me known_

_Are you breathing , no?_

_Do the wicked see you? _

_You still breathing? _

_What's up? I wonder why?_

_Do you listen to me? _

_I'm gonna make you do some freaky shit now_

_Insane, you're gonna die _

_When you listen to me_

_Let the living die, Let the living die_

_(SAY!)_

All of them were kinda freaked out when this song was playing. It only added to the creepy mood in the room. Max tried to turn it off but couldn't find a switch or a plug.

"Weird, how is it working then?" Max thought, scratching his head in puzzlement. Pikachu tried zapping the radio but it wouldn't stop. It was almost as if the radio was playing by itself…

_Can't you imagine how good going through this will make you feel_

_I promise, no one will ever know_

_There will be no chance of you getting caught _

_They never loved you anyway _

_So come on, be a man _

_And do what you are compelled to do Save Me God, God _

It was almost as if the song was directly explained the inside of the weird person who lived here's mind. As if the radio itself was a ghost, explaining the shack owner's feelings and thoughts to probably the only humans that will hear it or understand it. Maybe it was the owner's sprit inside the radio, forcing it to play. Now there's a scary thought. Maybe that's why Max and Pikachu couldn't shut it down.

_[x10] I can hear the voice But I don't want to listen _

_Strap me down and me I'll be alright _

_I can feel the subliminal need to be one with the voice _

_And make everything alright_

Everybody in the room was trying to think of a way to turn off the 'haunted' radio, but at the same time, for some mysterious reason none of them can understand, they were listening to all of the song's words, subconsciously trying to feel what the shack owner may have been feeling. Why? Nobody knows. Maybe they just had an urge to be sympatric towards whoever lived in this ranty little shack.

_So, are you breathing? So, do you breathe no, no?_

_So, are you breathing? So, do you breathe no?_

As the song finished they was a strange and awkward silence in the room, as the radio shut itself off, never to play again. Nobody said a word. No one knew how to react. Of course, the song, mixed with all the other creepy stuff in the room, would want them to freak and get the hell out before the owner came back and tortured them or something, but they were just silent. No protests, no need to destroy the radio, nothing. Just silence. Almost sadness. Wondering what a person must endure to think in such ways, and to have their entire life morphed to a point where they just give up and lose sight of themselves.

Ash made a mental promise that, no matter what happened, that he would never lose his head. Or die trying.

"Okay, it's getting late so we're gonna have to stay here tonight," Norman told everybody while lifting the cover of the window in the room and gazing at the sunset outside. He then dropped the cover and turned back toward the rest of the group.

"Probably not a good idea to sleep in this room though," Norman finished, looking at all the demented things on the wall with a disgusted look.

"We all have to sleep in different rooms, okay?" Norman said, looking for protestors. The entire group nodded in agreement and organized themselves in this manner:

Max, Ash and Pikachu were to stay in the living room next to the 'creepy room', May and Caroline were to sleep in another room that was kind of like a bedroom, and Norman slept with his back against a wall, facing the front door. He had the AK in his arms, waiting for a Yuktorussian Special Operations trooper to kick down the door. Night ensued as they all, including Norman, fell asleep for the night.

Ash woke up at about 4 in the morning and looked to see if anybody else was awake. No one was, so he got up and looked out the window in the room he was in. Pikachu was still asleep next to where Ash was and Max was snoring loudly in the other corner of the room. Ash just shrugged at this and turned back toward the window.

He saw flashing lights in the distance, in the direction of Rustboro City, and heard faint booming sounds as well. Upon closer inspection in Petalburg itself, he saw that the Spetsnaz patrols had died down considerably and most of them have camped for the night. Apparently they weren't expecting any surviving civilians in the city, nor a Karalian night assault either. Compared to earlier today, the city had definitely calmed down.

As he started to move away from the wall, his foot kicked something. He gazed down and saw the M16 that he had put there before going to sleep. Late in the evening, Norman had begun to teach Ash the basics of handling a gun, in this case, a rifle.

He taught Ash how to take out the magazine and put it back in, how to aim properly, how to flip the safety on and off, how to put bullets into the magazine, explained the safety rules of handling the weapon, how to cock it, and many other skills that Norman had hammered into him by his drill instructor at National Guard Basic Training.

Ash picked up the deadly assault rifle, and looked at its workings. Norman had told him the max range for an M16 was around 800 yards, and that it fired 5.56mm rounds. He examined the rifle up and down, trying to remember everything that Norman had told him. All the procedures were jumbling his brain, and as he was about to give up, he heard light, silent steps behind. The steps were light, but loud enough to be heard someone with good hearing.

Ash looked up and saw May. She was staring back at him with her beautiful sapphire eyes, easily seen with the moonlight drifting thru the windows. Ash stared back at her, wanting to break the silence but didn't know how. He got lost in those eyes, those innocent, perfect eyes. It was almost like he was in a momentary trance. Nothing could be heard expect faint booms, and equally faint popping of machine-gun fire coming from Rustboro City.

Ash looked down at his rifle and then at May again.

"Wait, she isn't scared to approach me because of the rifle, right?" That ridiculous thought creeping into his head.

"Sorry," Ash said, finally breaking the silence, trying to put the rifle down.

"No," May interrupted abruptly,

"Its fine, I'm not scared anymore," May said softly, almost whispering.

"Really? I thought that-"

"I saw some pretty gruesome stuff today Ash, I don't think a piece of metal can make anything worse," she said, almost sarcastically.

Ash put the rifle against the wall anyway and motioned for May to look out the window. He wanted to show her that the patrols had died down and that tomorrow might be an excellent day to continue the escape. May walked up to the window and they both looked outside, standing next to each other.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" May whispered softly.

"Beautiful?"A bewildered Ash thought. Did the chick next to him just lose her mind? There was nothing to look at, but a destroyed city, scattered rubble, and dead bodies in the roads and alleyways.

"Uh…May?" He said with his voice trembling, scared that she might be psychotic or something.

"O, what?" May turned toward him innocently and then started to giggle once she realized what she just said.

"Are you okay, May? Do you need a doctor?" Ash said in a shaky voice, concerned for his safety.

"No Ash, I was talking about the sunrise," May said, still giggling.

"What, did you think I was crazy or something? You're paranoid Ash," She said cutely while poking his nose with her index finger.

"Sorry, I thought-"

"Well, you thought wrong…..again," she said smiling at Ash. He was looking at the sunrise. May was right. It was beautiful. Ash mentally laughed at himself for thinking May was a maniac or something. He again turned to May and their faces were about six inches apart, because of the close proximity at which they were standing. He studied her face. He could've sworn that he had never seen anything more perfect in his entire life. Especially those eyes. He would come to discover that it was easy to be put in a trance by them.

He looked back outside, and saw the sun already letting light into the shack. Today was the day that they would escape. Today, they were going to make it to safety.

Then, there was a loud bang heard by the front door.

Afterthought

This was, in my words, a strange chapter. Reading it and writing it, but I think it's still pretty good. Sorry about the lack of action, trust me, it will come.

Also, I started to read 1984 by George Orwell, for my English class. At first, the story is hard to understnd at the begginging, but once you get it, it's pretty damn good.

For any of you that have read it, I'm at the part where Winston is reading _The Book, _by Goldstein, discovering the ways of the rebel.

If you guys want to challenge me on PS3, Black Ops, and soon Battlefield: Bad Company 2, I'm **LikeABoss222**. There now you guys can pwn me online now. I'm pretty new there too, so don't laugh at my rankings. Also, I don't have a headset, so I can't answer you're taunts. Be nice!

All challengers are welcome online!

Leave a review guys! Til next time!

See ya!


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10- The Great Escape (Part 2)**

Thanks for all the uplifting and helpful comments you guys left for me. As I have said before, I am trying to get better as a writer every day, and I don't think I'm doing too bad of a job. I notice that my chapters get better and longer as I continue to write, which I see as a good sign.

I promise that this chapter will be kickass or I'll let you come to my house and sock me in the face. That's how confident I'm going to be in my writing for now on. No more apologizing to flamers, (see chapter 3) from now on screw them! If they don't like my masterpiece then they can get the hell off my page, cause I don't give a shit anymore. I'm going to write this series if it kills me.

I hope you like this!

The door slammed to the ground as the Yuke Special Forces member kicked down the door with his boot. Right as he was completing this maneuver, Norman pumped lead into his body. The 7.62mm rounds ripped through the soldier's body as blood spurted everywhere. Almost immediately after that first one dropped, a second Spetsnaz that was leaning against the wall next to the front door, threw a flash bang grenade right were Norman had his back to the adjacent wall.

Norman stood up, picked up the flash bang, and chucked it back through the door. He scavenged the dead trooper's magazines and heard Yukes speaking Russian loudly outside, so he ran out there to investigate.

Ash and May ran over to where the commotion was, and on their way to the front door, a Spetsnaz in the hallway to the right, squeezed off a burst of automatic fire to stop them from crossing to where Norman was.

Ash and May had their backs to the wall, and were pinned down for the moment. Ash was grateful that he had picked up his M16 when he heard the door getting kicked down. He peeked around the corner of the wall, and as he did so, the Spetsnaz squeezed off another volley of automatic fire, which Ash retracted himself from, behind the wall corner.

Max and Pikachu ran up behind the pinned down young teens, and Ash tried to think up a plan. Until now, he didn't make a plan for anything. He didn't know what to do in a combat scenario such as this one, which not many people would blame him for because not many people did. For the time being, this plan sounded genius.

Ash happened to see a metal chandelier on the ceiling in the middle of the hallway. He had it!

"Pikachu, do you think you can ricochet a thunderbolt off the chandelier and angle it towards the soldier in the hallway?" Ash asked with a hint of intelligence and military precision in his voice.

"Pika, Pika!" His loyal mouse Pokémon responded to him, shaking his head yes.

"Pikaaaaaa chuuuuuu!" A bright static charge filled the air as the electricity, on Pikachu's will, bounced off the metal ceiling decoration and zapped the elite trooper in the hallway dead on, as the trooper staggered. The Yuktorussian tried to keep his balance by leaning on the wall, but the powerful electric shock was too much for him and he dropped to the floor, rolling on the floor, groaning in pain, and trying to keep consciousness.

Ash took the opportunity, and without hesitation, turned swiftly from behind the wall, and with the stock of the rifle in his shoulder (courtesy of the pointers Norman gave him last night) and with perfect aim because he had the iron sights aligned correctly, he fired a three round burst at the stricken Yuke.

The first round missed low, below the trooper's boots. The second round slammed into the trooper's gut, piercing his uniform and the weak armor he was wearing, making the Yuktorussian grunt. The third round was the killer. It had entered his throat, piercing his jugular straight on, his head dropped onto the wooded floor with a thud, and blood started to pour out of the fatal wound as Ash had May, Max, and Caroline, hide in the bathroom in the room where May and Caroline where originally sleeping.

Ash told them to stay inside and lock the door, until the fighting was over. Ash turned around to see another Spetsnaz charging into the room they were in at full speed. Ash pointed the M16 at him from the hip, pointed it into the soldier's center of mass, and let off a three round burst. It was a direct hit.

One bullet hit the soldier in the gut, one in the chest and one in the forehead, almost simultaneously. In about a split second, the Spetsnaz was dead before he hit the floor. Ash moved up towards where Norman was and saw that he was gone, and that the front door was wide open. He also heard gunfire outside of the shack, and men screaming and shouting in Russian.

He was certain that Norman was out there, possibly fighting off more Yukes than one person can handle. Before Ash had a chance to sprint out there and assist Norman, He heard a subtle _ping _and heard something roll across the floor and bumped into his shoe. Ash looked down and saw a frag grenade on the ground in front of him.

He turned his back and sprinted back into the shack, and when he got about 12 yards away from it and behind a wall, Ash dropped to the floor with his hands over his ears. The hand-thrown bomb exploded at the front door, sending a shockwave throughout the entire shack. Ash got up and saw a Spetsnaz rush through the door.

Ash aimed his rifle right at the Spetsnaz trooper's face and then…_click click! _Impossible.

The M16A2 was usually a reliable weapon, but at the worst time possible, it jams!

The Yuke at the door saw this and smiled. Piece of cake. As the trooper brought his AK-74 to bear, to deliver the kill shot into Ash's head, his own head blew up in a shower of blood and brain matter. Then, Ash heard what seemed like countless explosions, diesel engines, sporadic gunfire, men screaming in Russian and English.

Wait…..English?

Ash looked outside and saw about a dozen Yuke Spetsnaz, standing about forty yards away from the front door of the shack, firing in the direction of Olddale town.

"Strange," Ash thought, "Why would they…" he was interrupted by his answer as a light machine-gun mowed down the entire squad of Spetsnaz. As the Yuke bodies dropped his salvation was now visible.

He couldn't believe his eyes! Behind the now-dead Yuke Special Forces, stood an entire battalion of Karalian Army soldiers, supported by 6 Crusader medium tanks!

The Karalians started to swarm the remnants of Petalburg City, their superior numbers and amount of lead they pumped, overpowering the Spetsnaz! That's when something became apparent, it wasn't a battalion, it was an entire infantry division!

The Karalian Army's 2nd. Infantry Division had orders to reinforce the defending troops at Rustboro City, and was also told to liberate Petalburg City on the way there. 10,000 Karalian regular troops would have the ruthless Spetsnaz vanquished within the next 36 hours.

Ash was breathless. He saw the Karalians rolling through the town on their high- tech tanks, as a godsend. He looked up and saw a flood of 45 Karalian Apache attack helicopters fly over the city and head towards the Hoenn west coast.

Ash felt something tap on his shoulder. He looked, and saw Norman behind him, with a huge grin on his face. Ash looked behind him, also grinning. Norman offered Ash a handshake, and he took it immediately, shaking Norman's hand violently.

"You did well today Ash. You fought like ferocious Groudon. And don't worry, we'll take a look at your rifle and see what went wrong," Norman finished in a cheery mood as he went back into the shack to let out the rest of his family. He opened the door, and the entire Maple family ran out to hug him. Caroline was first, and kissed Norman passionately. May and Max followed behind and hug their father tightly.

Pikachu jumped to his master and perched himself at his usual spot on Ash's shoulder.

"Hey, buddy" Ash said to his pal, while stoking his fur. The madness was over. For the first time in three days, they were safe. It was like an air of uneasiness had lifted within each of them, that they could breathe easier now. The plan now, was probably to head to Mauville City, where the war had yet to touch. They would probably make a temporary home there.

But for today, all that matter was that they were safe, all that mattered was that sense of security they got when thousands of Karalian soldiers pouring into the city, systematically clearing each sector, making sure no Spetsnaz can hide in any nook and cranny. Karalian jets soared over Petalburg in the dozens, giving an overpowering feeling of security.

Ash and May looked at each other as May was still hugged her family. She just winked at him, and Ash gave her a smile. Then, Ash turned back outside to watch the assembling Karalian Army in Petalburg City. Now the Yuktorussians were going to pay for all the atrocities they committed. The massing power of the Karalian military would ensure that.

All of them, Ash, May Max, Pikachu, Norman, and Caroline were all safe.

For the time being at least.

**Anskov Special Forces Base, Anskov City, People's Republic of Rycinia- 1200 hours**

Andrew Slavik, a Rycinian Red Guard, was practicing intricate maneuvers with his men that are under his command. It was break time, and Andrew was slapping a full magazine into an Israeli-made, Uzi submachine-gun. He was talking to a friend of his as he did so;

"When do we deploy on another mission?" His blond 16-year-old friend inquired.

"Not for a while, we need to see who has the upper hand in the war first. Once we do that, we covertly attack and/or sabotage the victor, to keep the war balanced understand?" Explained the young platoon commander, with marijuana colored hair. He was putting his hands out flat and moving them up and down, imitating a balance.

"Didn't you used to live in Karalia?" The blond Red Guard asked his commander.

"Yes I did, and I was a damn good Pokémon coordinator too," Andrew said, smirking at his friend.

Andrew was the commander that had stormed the nuclear facility that started this entire war. It was his first mission and considered it a success. He didn't have a single drop of remorse for the people he killed. All he cared about was his own glory and the glory of Rycinia. He couldn't wait for the next mission, with his honed skills in killing other human beings, no one could outmatch him. He believed that he was to be an oppressed Rycinian's hero. A hero that saved his country from the corrupt superpowers that ran the world, without giving consideration to whom they stepped on. The aggressiveness of which the Yukies and Karalians assaulted each other, was just proof of their corrupt, power-hungry ways, Andrew thought. 1st. Lieutenant Slavik of the unstoppable Rycinian Red Guards was going to be the end of them.

And he wasn't afraid to slaughter anyone who got in his way.

Afterthought

I hope you all liked this, or my face is going to hurt for the rest of the week. Anyways, R&R guys! And also track me on PSN if you can. I can't wait to have you guys beat my ass! (Not really)

See ya!


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11- Coming to G.R.I.P.S. with an Executive Decision**

Well, mostly this chapter is going to be filled with military and slightly political outlooks on the war. I hope none of you hate after this…

Enjoy!

Richard Carson, the new president of the Karalian Federation, was standing alongside General Crawford, and numerous other generals and commanders of the Karalian Armed Forces. Even members of the Republican Intelligence Agency where in attendance, the higher-ups of the RIA anyway.

They were all in a secure location, in an underground bunker, in a secret facility. The facility itself wasn't very well known to even half of Karalia's Department of Defense. Its documented name is Defense Compound 10, but it was codenamed:

**Angel Eye**

by some of the people that worked there or knew about it. They had named it so, mainly because it is the network in which the Karalian military and the RIA collect most of their Intel, and it is also the RIA's headquarters. Also it contains an expensive and classified piece of equipment that only certain eyes are allowed to look at, inside of the facility.

People like the supreme commander of all Karalian military forces, or the president of Karalia himself, are some of the few important faces that have the special security clearance required to enter, or even acknowledge the existence of the facility.

The facility itself was highly secured, and the location was supposedly within a ten mile radius of Celadon City, in the Kanto Region. It was largely underground, with only a small slab of concrete and a dirt road acknowledging its existence. It sat in a large mountain, which the only way you could reach it was to follow the dirt road and hoped not to get stopped by security personnel before you got within two miles of the place.

It was heavily guarded, though besides the security personnel protecting the perimeter of the place, the main guards were mostly either inside the facility, or patrolling the mountain for civilians or foreign spies that get a little too curious.

Inside the facility, President Richard Carson of the Karalian Federation was looking at the giant monitor in the central command room that took up an entire east wall. Most of Karalia's leading political and military figures and leaders were in attendance.

Director of the RIA, Daniel Leechfield, standing in front of his important audience, waiting to show Karalia's most top-secret, and sophisticated piece of machinery before the new president would tell those in attendance about his plan to convince the Senate to change the minimum enlistment age from 18 to 14 years old.

The president reasoned, that if the people here don't like the idea, then the Senate wouldn't either and he'll just throw the amendment into the trash. If they do appeal to it however, it just might be worth a shot to write the bill for a Senate vote.

The former new president, Carl Hampton, stepped down because he couldn't the pressure of a nation at war, and had suffered a moderate heart attack at his presidential desk. Hampton is currently at home, trying to recover. Then, Vice President Richard Carson was to take over the responsibilities of the Commander-In-Chief until Hampton was ready to take back the reins, but that probably wasn't going to be for a while.

"Gentlemen, I'd like to welcome you to the most advanced computer system in the world," said Leechfield, the head of all Karalian clandestine services.

"It is known as the Global Reconnaissance and Intelligence Positioning Satellite, or the **G.R.I.P.S.**," the RIA leader explained in a sharp, professional demeanor.

"It is similar to a GPS system, but **G.R.I.P.S. **is much more sensitive, and sophisticated," Leechfield explained, gesturing to the massive computer screen that took up the entire east wall.

"**G.R.I.P.S**, show all these gentlemen the current state of the war back west," Leechfield commanded the high-tech computer.

The computer responded in a soft female, computerized voice:

"The current state of the front in Hoenn is a stalemate for the time being. The Yuktorussian invasion force has currently pushed Karalian defense forces into Rustboro City. Urban combat has been ensuing there for the past 46 hours, with no clear victor in sight. Rustboro City has not been under total control of either army since the Yuktorussian troops arrived," the computer explained, bearing no sense of emotion.

The computer screen showed a map of Hoenn, and all of the territory under Karalian control showed up as a light blue with a Karalian national flag over it. The flag was your typically shaped square/rectangular flag, and its entire background was a navy blue and a fairly large single five-sided, polygonal white star in the center of the flag.

The blue territory ended in southwest Hoenn, right up to Rustboro City. Rustboro City itself had mixed red and blue stripes, possibly meaning that the city was still in dispute over who owned it. All of Yuktorussia, its provinces, and the small amount of territory that it had captured so far in the invasion, showed as bright red.

The Yuktorussian homeland bore a flag that was the same shape as the Karalian one, except that the Yuke flag had a white background, with two red stripes that came from the top and intersected in the middle, and then continue diagonally down to the opposite corner. It looked like the red stripes made a giant red X that took up the entire length of the flag, corner to corner. Inside both red stripes, where six little white polygonal stars that descended from the top of the stripe, down to the bottom.

**G.R.I.P.S. **had also shown all the cities of both nations, and the names and populations of each city. Also, it revealed the military bases and factories for both nations and the names of those landmarks as well. It was clear that this supercomputer was not cheap. It might have been worth the price though.

"Now you see gentlemen, that this war is not going to be won with the troops we have now," Leechfield said.

"President Carson would like to clue you all in on a solution. As you can see from the screen that Karalian military recruiting is not even close to the numbers we need them at. The reason being is because the Yuktorussian military has a manpower advantage on ours.

For every Karalian service member, there are three Yuke service members. Long story short, not enough Karalian citizens are enlisting and Yuke citizens are enlisting at a much more rapid pace.

Obviously this is an immense problem, not only for our nation, but for the world. If we go down, who's going to stop the Yukes? No other country in the world can effectively protect themselves from Yuke aggression than us.

That's the bottom line gentlemen. Yuktorussia could conquer the entire planet if it wanted to, and Karalia is the only strong country in their way. Even if all the other world's nations form an alliance against Yuktorussia, they wouldn't stand a chance without us there.

We are the nation that has to stand up and fight the ruthless aggressor and drive them back to their miserable homeland! Mr. Carson will now explain how we can do so," Leechfield finished.

Richard Carson stood up and took Daniel Leechfield's place at the front of the computer monitor, and began his proposal.

"Good morning and thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to make it here. I promise you this will not be a waste of your time. I have a proposal that will help us win this war. It may be controversial but it is necessary to end all Yuktorussian aggression in Karalia and may prevent future aggression around the world.

I will take this bill to the Senate if a majority of you are in favor of it. Let's see…. Okay, there are 25 delegates in this room, if 15 of you are in favor of this bill, then I will take it up to the Senate for an official vote.

The proposal concerns the enlistment age. The federal census shows that at least 57% of all Karalian citizens are in between the ages of 13 and 17. Every citizen at these prime ages is more than capable of military training and combat. This will allow the Karalian military to beef up its numbers and actually stand a chance against the Yuktorussian war machine.

Now, I hope all of you see the good in this bill and at least give it a shot. Any questions?" Carson finished.

"Sending children into the meat grinder! That is the best plan your party can come up with! This is unacceptable! The Senate will never approve such inhumane treachery, even if the Republicans do a have a majority!" Democrat majority leader Thomas Wilkinson spat out in utter disgust.

The other Democrats in the room shouted out in agreement with their overweight leader. Wilkinson was easily pushing 250lbs.

"If we have such a dire manpower problem, why can't we get mother Russia on our side? Besides, don't you think the Russians are pissed at the Yukes for breaking off from them and taking mostly of their population and resources with them?

The Russians will be itching for pay back, and will ally themselves with us on a moment's notice. This will split the Yuke armies into two, and make it much easier to handle the Yuke problem. Now, doesn't that sound like a better proposition than sending off young children to the slaughter house?" Wilkinson argued intensely.

"Wilkinson, my Democratic friend, you don't understand that lowering the enlistment age is the only way. Here, I'll explain," Carson answered.

"Russia, as you said yourself, has lost most of its population and resources to Yuktorussia. This will make Russia a weak ally, and they won't be able to stand up to the Yukes, even with our help. Russia will have the same problem we do, not enough resources and manpower to defeat the Yuke bullies.

Also my friend, Russia may not be as excited as you think about fighting the Yukes. If you all did your history homework, you'll see that Russia was down-right embarrassed in their civil war. The Yuke rebels pummeled the living shit out of the Russian armies.

Therefore, don't you think that Russia will try to avoid the war as much as possible? I'm pretty sure that the Ruskies will not want to be embarrassed again. If there's anything the Russians don't like besides living in Russia and a shortage of Vodka, it's having to live in shame.

The Russians won't help us, we're on our own. That's why I'm proposing this bill. Now for a vote. All in favor?" Carson asked as about 17 hands went up.

"And all opposed?" Only 8 hands rose this time. Wilkinson looked on in dismay when he saw that 5 members of his own party voted for Carson's proposition.

"Great, this is going to make it to the Senate. And it's not going to be easy to oppose this bill," the fat Wilkinson thought to himself.

"Just perfect!" he muttered out loud.

**Rustboro City- 1250 hours**

Fighting had been ferocious all day. The winter air had a biting wind to it, even though the skies were clear. All it has been all day was house-to-house combat. Snipers, claymores, makeshift machinegun nests, individual squads exchanging rifle fire, an occasional tank or shoulder-fired rocket, and the like.

Each side was basically fighting over city blocks and buildings. The Devon Corporation building had changed hands at least 12 times. Each side had fighter squadrons trying to down each other in the sky above. Helicopters were also locked into furious combat. Not only providing air support for their respective ground troops, but also shooting each other down in mid-air.

Yuke Hinds and Karalian Apaches were shooting each other full of holes with miniguns, nose-mounted cannons, and heat-seeking missiles. Over all, the fighting in Rustboro was a fluctuating front. There was no clear winner. One hour, Yuktorussia had 95% of the city under its control, in the next hour, 95% of the city would be retaken by Karalia. The fighting was so chaotic, unorganized, and uncontrollable, that it is very hard to describe.

As Admiral McAdam continued his submarine night raids and General Crawford tried to keep his men together, one can only ask….what will happen next?

….There were rumors of the Yukes opening another front in Karalia because of the offensive in Hoenn is stalling out for the time being. So it's plausible that the invasion may come, maybe not now, but sometime in the future.

Is this true?

Afterthought

I know I said this in chapter 8, but I believe, even though there was a lack of action, that this is my best chapter yet. More intellectual than actiony I suppose. Put your thoughts into a review!

See Ya!


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12-Intensity**

Well grammaguy… that was an insane review. I think my brain short-circuited about halfway through reading it, sorry...

Keep in mind that I'm a new writer and that this story is experimental for me.

I have to admit that your review stung me a bit, but that's nothing, I asked for critiquing and I got it. Please review again if you want.

Accidentally deleted original version of this chapter…Damn, it was good too. That pissed me off so much! (Much of the reason why it took me so damn long to write this chapter).

**Slipknot-Dead Memories **(Listen to on YouTube…..The video is weird as shit, but the song is kick ass!)

Anthony Ketchum was walking home from work. It was evening and the sun was starting to set. Today was different, however. Instead of going home, he was going to meet a contact, and longtime friend of his, probably one of the few friends he ever made in Rycinia, Serjei. They had met when Anthony was selling weapons to the Chancellor. Serjei was a palace guard, and grew fond of Anthony's (Victor's) frequent visits to the palace.

Upon further inspection, Anthony had discovered that Serjei was a traitor to the PRR (People's Republic of Rycinia). Serjei was a member of the Rycinian underground, a small rebel group that works against the government. They were incredibly tiny, numbering only 86 members, perhaps more but usually approaching but not yet exceeding 100 men.

Small groups do small crimes, I suppose, mainly because all the underground has done so far is organized, harbor ill thoughts towards the government, and because most of the rebels were actually Rycinian Army personnel, they would be able to sneak a few guns and some ammunition. Just take enough to where you don't get noticed.

One man took a pistol home on his first day, and stole one bullet for the pistol every day, from the Rycinian armory for 6 years. Many others had similar ways of getting guns and ammo, like sucking up to their superior in hopes that they receive a weapon as part of their bonuses.

Believe it or not, the Rycinian Army actually lets them do that, why, I'm just as clueless on that as you are. And it actually works! Some men have gotten entire boxes of grenades or a RPG for a bonus. One man who picked up Sergeant received a Yuktorussian G-36c assault rifle, and a satchel with 8 claymores.

(In case if you're confused, only the Yuke Spetsnaz use AK's, it was a choice. The Yuke regular Army is issued G-36c's).

These rebels believe in freedom, justice, equality, and apparently, the right to bear arms. They've got that one down. They believe that they can slowly build up their numbers and get enough poor people to fight with them to give them manpower. However, you have to arm and organize them as well.

They assumed that they would worry about organization when the big day came, and they were more worried about collecting weapons for their future rebel army. That's where Anthony comes in, considering he works at a weapons factory.

Serjei, the leader of the group, brought Anthony to a meeting once he found out that Anthony was Karalian, and that he was sent by the Karalian government to undermine the Rycinian government. Once that little fact leaked out, every member of the underground loved Anthony, or Victor I should say.

They all knew his real name was Anthony but disciplined themselves to use the cover name, especially in public. No reason to raise suspicion right? After all, Anthony was supposed to be of Russian descent and couldn't have a Karalian sounding name. They all treated Anthony like a brother, a comrade.

Together with a common goal, a common and just cause. The belief that you shouldn't be shot by a Red guard in the street for speaking out against the government, or getting crushed a Battlemaster medium tank for protesting an unjust, and hypocritical law.

To not be afraid all the time, to have a sensation that you're not being watched, to not be poor, and not have enough to eat. Just a few things that these rebels believe the people of Rycinia deserve.

Serjei was the one who allowed Anthony illegal access into the intelligence sector of the palace. Anthony would take pictures of documents and steal information off of the computers via USB drive. Finally, he had enough to broadcast the evidence of Rycinia's evil ways to the Rycinian people.

Problem was, the government controlled all of the broadcasting stations, the counter is, and those stations are pretty poorly protected. Two lunatics with assault rifles could capture a news building if they wanted to, and that was the plan.

Capture the place, broadcast the evidence, and raise a rebel army against the government. Also, there was the task of sticking a C4 charge to the radio station and detonating it so the government doesn't have a chance to deny anything in time. Of course this plan may fail and end up taking on a few different scenarios, but, in the rebels' eyes, there was no other way.

Anthony had the evidence and was on his way to the main rebel hideout, a bar out in the slums. He wanted to use the alleyways to stay out of sight and keep from arousing suspicion. Also it would be faster route. But it wasn't that easy. The reason being…

Anthony was being followed.

A blond man in a business suit and dark sunglasses had been tailing Anthony for the past 3 blocks. He was trying to be as subtle as possible by staying at least 15 yards behind Anthony and pretending to be uninterested in him.

However, Anthony's trained and paranoid eyes were able to spot an act like this a mile away. He was almost positive that this man was a Rycinian agent sent to kill him. But that would mean that the government was aware of his presence, not good.

Anthony was tense, nervous, mainly because he had never been followed before. Anthony had already been concocting a plan of action to get rid of the nuisance following him.

He did have a strip of piano wire in his left coat pocket that he had been saving for a rainy day. Maybe he could find a makeshift weapon on the ground, like a rusty pipe, or a broken piece of glass. No. It was decided. He would strangle the intruder with the strip of piano wire.

Anthony also knew that he'd have to accomplish this deed in the alleyways. Because of all the dead bodies of the poor that littered them, no one would know the difference or care that there's one more dead man there. It would go down there. Either he was going to kill the Rycinian agent, or the agent was going to kill him.

Showtime.

As Anthony turned the corner into the alley, the man behind him quickened his pace and followed suit. As the stranger turned the corner, Anthony heard a single 'click' behind him. He had assumed that this could mean one things or another.

Either the man had just cocked a suppressed pistol or sub-machinegun, in which case Anthony was screwed because he didn't have anything to match that. Or, the Rycinian had flipped open a pocketknife, with Anthony hoped was the case. At least then, he'd have a chance.

Either way, it was a weapon and the man was making his initial move here. Anthony could hear his steps as the stranger continued to speed up and close in on Anthony. Anthony counted his steps and timed his defense just right, and waited until the man was within arm's reach, and then Anthony selected this moment to retaliate.

Anthony whipped around and with inhuman speed, and equally insane reflexes, dodged a stabbing motion aimed at his head immediately by jerking his head to the side. At the same time, he grabbed the hand of the assassin with the knife in it.

Then, he twisted the man's wrist, and slammed his knee into the assassin's wrist with full force, snapping the Rycinian's ulna. That made the assassin drop the knife and scream out in intense pain. Then, Anthony used the momentum to whip around behind the Rycinian and produced the strip of piano wire from his left coat pocket.

He wrapped the wire over the assassin's throat and squeezed with all his might. The Rycinian choked and gasped for air, while clawing at the piano wire, trying to rip it off. However, Anthony was too quick and gave it one last jerk, and blood started pouring from the assassin's jugular and he appeared to lose consciousness as his eyes started to flutter.

Anthony loosened his grip to see if the assassin was playing possum, but he remained immobile and unresponsive. Anthony felt for a pulse and let the body drop to the floor. The Rycinian was dead. Anthony watched the blood from the agent's throat pour onto the pavement at his feet.

Anthony had to move now. For all he knew there could be an entire team on him. For all he knew, he could be inside a sniper's scope right this second and not have the faintest clue that he was.

Realizing this, he swung himself back to his original direction and speedily continued towards the bar in the slums. Anthony, watched or not, was trying to ge5t there quickly because he knew he had to show Serjei the evidence concerning the Rycinian treasury and other crimes that the government committed before he was captured.

Anthony reasoned that if he could let this information leak from the underground to the public then there will be an outrage, chaos, a revolt hopefully. This was all up to Anthony and the rebels.

Karalia was too preoccupied with the war back east to do anything about the corrupt totalitarianism going on in the PRR. The dictatorship had to end, and only the small camera and USB drive in Anthony right coat pocket had the power to do so.

'This info has got to reach the underground, I can't get caught. Not now. Not yet,' he thought to himself. He quickened his pace from a fast walk to a jog, but didn't dare to sprint because that would make him look extremely suspicious, like he was running from something.

After he turned another corner, he could see the bar's neon sign about 100 yards from him across the street. As he stepped onto the sidewalk from the alley, he bumped into a young 16 year-old that was laughing and joking with 4 other boys about his age while they were walking down the street.

Their shoulders made contact as they bumped, and the green-haired youth turned to Anthony.

"Watch where you're going dipshit," the youth growled menacingly in Rycinian. Anthony continued to stare at him as the young man gave him a nasty 'Fuck off or I'll kick your ass,' face.

There was hostility in the air, almost as if they knew they were enemies. The kid, whose hair was the color of pot, then turned around and ran off to catch up with his friends. Anthony turned away and refocused his attention back towards the bar, not thinking much about it.

He crossed the street with a brisk jog and entered the bar. Inside the front entrance, it was your typical low-life bar. The air was filled with smoke and there were drunk men yelling, laughing, and swearing. Anthony went through the **Employees only** door to go to the back room.

Back there, it was the same as the front except that back here, there were dirty, tough-faced rebels with raggedy Rycinian Army uniforms and civilian attire. They were playing and tampering with stolen (and given) Rycinian weapons. Among them were: assault rifles, various sub-machineguns, handguns, rocket launchers, grenades, and there were even two boxes full of armor-piercing rounds on the floor against the wall across from Anthony.

All of it was contraband. The radio station they were listening to was Karalian…contraband. The weapons (some), the men themselves, what Anthony had in his coat pocket, all of it was contraband.

EZ-E's 'Fuck the Police' was playing on the radio sitting on edge of the only table in the middle of the room.

This was exactly what Anthony expected everything he came here. Raw-looking rebels in a hidden room playing with guns and blaring 90's gangster rap. There were about a dozen of them in the room, all staring at Anthony with indifferent faces.

Obviously, these were a few of Serjei's new recruits, because they seemed to not recognize Anthony, and stared at him like he was nobody. Except for one.

One man, a bald middle-aged one, holding a MAC-10 in one hand stood up, and walked toward Anthony with a friendly smile on his face.

"Victor! Ha Ha! It is nice to see that those government pigs have yet to kill you. How are you and why are you here my friend?" The bald man said harmlessly.

"I have evidence, hard evidence," Anthony (Victor) said while producing the small camera and USB drive from his coat pocket. Anthony was smirking, knowing that he (with Serjei's assistance), had outsmarted Rycinia's toughest security when it came to intelligence files and classified material. Then, Anthony remembered the agent he suffocated on the way to the bar.

"I wanted you guys to have this because it contained in these devices is the power to destroy the Rycinian government and induce reform within Rycinia itself. In the words, the information inside will piss you and millions of fellow Rycinians off. It exposes all the crimes, treacheries, and hypocrisies that the current government has committed over the years. Now, I want you guys to broadcast this shit in the news building across town," Anthony concluded, with a hint of seriousness in his voice.

"Victor, this is excellent! You have done marvelously for the underground! You have helped us get what we needed for our cause to destroy the government swine in the palace! Now, we can execute our plan and for that we thank you! "Serjei (the bald man) said excitedly, realizing that now was the underground's chance.

Their chance to expose the Rycinian government for what they really were, not the lies they broadcast daily on the news. To confirm that their beliefs were not hopeful lies, but an honest truth.

That was the feeling that was coursing through the veins of Serjei and the rebels near him, who had been listening in on the conversation. That they had a chance to free their homeland, to have their families experience a better life in a free nation, without fear or mongering hatred.

"We'll need to gather enough weapons for the fresh and enraged recruits, right now we only have enough weapons and ammo for about 245 men. If only there was someone who worked at an arms factory," Serjei said suggestively with his fingers on his chin and smiling at Anthony.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do," Anthony replied, returning the smile.

"We're going to have to move fast though," Anthony sighed.

"Because I had to kill an assassin on the way here, and I think I may be compromised," Anthony said worryingly, not knowing what to do considering that the Rycinian government may be tipped off to his presence.

Anthony was also positive that the agent in the alley was not YKGB (Yuktorussian KGB) mainly because he knew for a fact that YKGB agents don't prefer using pocketknives, they prefer to shoot you full of holes with a suppressed Skorpion.

"Its fine Victor, we'll protect you!" Serjei said proudly, pointing his MAC-10 in the air, and the other rebels in the room followed suit. Anthony, guessing that was their way of telling him that they were there for support, moved Anthony to his core. He saw this as sign of brotherhood, that they were willing to give their lives for their comrade.

To a man that gave them a chance, gave them hope. A man that solidified their accusations against PRR, showed them that they were in the right, that everything they stood for was justified.

Anthony felt extremely sentimental, they were his brothers, brothers that were willing to die for him, and he was prepared to die for them as well.

"I will be honored to fight with you. First, I need to go home and collect my guns and ammo. Then, we'll broadcast the evidence and draw the Rycinian Army to the slums for a battle. Then we'll fight, kill, and possibly die…..for a better tomorrow…..a better Rycinia!"

Anthony shouted in the air at the top of his lungs. He didn't care who heard. He felt unstoppable. Indestructible. The rebels yelled and jeered with him, all showing loyalty for the cause.

A just cause.

**Road to Mauville City-1930 hours**

"And that Ash, is how you clear a jam from an assault rifle," Norman said instructively.

"Okay, thanks!" Ash responded, repeating the methods of clearing a weapon.

They were about 45 miles from Mauville City. Once they got there, then they'll stay in a hotel or Pokémon Center until they can get a new home. They wanted to move back into Petalburg City, but Caroline and May suggested that they stay as far away from the front as they possibly could.

They all compromised and decided to stay in Mauville City until they could figure something out. Or until the front got too close to them there, that is.

Right now, they were all camped out along the river for the evening and were going to continue their trip tomorrow. On the way there, a Karalian soldier almost took away Norman and Ash's guns for a safety protocol, but after much pleading and the mention that Norman was former military himself, was enough to convince the trooper to let them slide. The trooper did mention something about not letting his Staff Sergeant see them walking across the allied line armed though….

May was sitting on a log next to the stream, tending to her Pokemon and grooming them. Max was helping his mother cook dinner by trying to start a fire. Caroline saw this and yanked Max away, badgering him that someone his age shouldn't be playing with lighter fluid and a match. However, the fire was started nonetheless, and the cooking began.

Norman was again training Ash with his rifle, and different things about fighting. Norman had also reminded Ash that him killing those Yukes in Petalburg City and making it out alive, was pure luck and nothing else.

Norman had been showing Ash many things about the M16A2, the main rifle that Norman trained with while he was in the Hoenn National Guard.

Ash now knew that, to help prevent jams, a good habit or method is to hit the fresh magazine against something hard like a wall, or a helmet, before you insert it into the rifle.

Tapping the magazine allows the bullets inside to align themselves. He was also taught that when firing around a corner, only to expose your head and shoulder.

That made you a harder target to hit than an entire body sticking out in the open. Not a smart move. He told Ash to keep the M16 dry and clean or he'll have problems with it in the future, and that the rifle will have a higher chance of malfunctioning again if that were to happen.

Ash took all these lessons like a good schoolboy and remembered and practiced them by Norman giving Ash certain combat scenarios. Norman also showed Ash that he could melee with the rifle butt and had Ash smack a tree numerous times until he could start putting serious dents in the bark. Stuff like this was what Norman and Ash were doing for the past few days.

During his breaks, Ash would let out Dratini and make friends with it. While Ash was training, Pikachu would play with Dratini, trying to keep each other occupied. Dratini reminded Ash of his other Pokemon that were obliterated in the nuke explosion, almost two weeks ago today.

He remembered a bunch of little things about them. With all the chaos lately, he really didn't have an atmosphere or a chance to think about things like that until now. His memories clouded his mind at times and sidetracked him while training with Norman. He had finally hit the wall, the wall that made him realize that all of them were really gone, and that he would never be able to see them again.

How Bayleef would used to tackle him every chance she got, how Charizard would toast him with flamethrower attacks, and how Torkoal would cry for just about anything, and many things about all of his Pokemon that he missed.

He also thought about his mother, Delia, and how she used to love him, and care for him. All the faces he knew in Pallet Town that he'll never be able to see again. And the fact that he had no home to return to, all of it consumed his thoughts.

He would think about at night, not being able to sleep, and would something tear up, but not burst out in tears for fear that Pikachu, Dratini, Max, Norman, Caroline, or May, would hear him.

May.

For some reason, he thought about her too. He didn't know why, but he felt a connection with her, like she understood what Ash was feeling, or at least trying. He thought for a second that maybe he liked her, but checked himself and threw that thought out of his head immediately.

That thought, was secondhand to the thoughts of his lost Pokemon and family however. Whether he forced it to be or not. Tonight, those thoughts would penetrate his dreams.

After him and Norman finished training and some dinner with the Maple family (tonight happened to be seafood), they all decided that it was time for bed. After his usual alone time of trying to collect memories in his head of all that were lost, he felt himself drift off to sleep…..

Images of his Pokemon, family and neighbors entered his mind.

_Sitting in the dark I can't forget_

_Even now I realize the time I'll never get_

_Another story of the bitter pills of fate_

_I can't go back again, I can't go back again_

_But you asked me to love you and I did_

_Traded my emotions for a contact to commit_

_And when I got away I only get so far_

_The other me is dead_

_I hear his voice inside my head_

Images of his mother, his Pokemon and everybody he knew in Pallet Town flooded his thoughts. All of them, were indeed dead memories. He would never know everything about them, and it was too late to start trying. Ash wanted to know everything about them, their drams, their loves, their hates, their feelings their thoughts, he wanted to know all of it, but now it was too late….they were nothing but dead memories now.

_And we were never alive _

_And we won't be born again_

_But I'll never survive _

_With dead memories in my heart _

_Dead memories in my heart_

_Dead memories in my heart_

Now, Ash's memories of them filled him with great sadness and despair. A tear formed on his cheek, even though he was still dreaming.

_You told me to love you when I did_

_Tied my soul in a knot and got me to submit_

_So when I got away I only kept my scars_

_The other me is gone_

_Now I don't know where I belong_

_And we were never alive _

_And we won't be born again_

_But I'll never survive_

His feeling gripped him in emotional pain as tears started falling from both of his cheeks in his sleep. He clenched his teeth and was about to break sub consciousness.

_With dead memories in my heart_

_Dead memories in my heart _

_Dead memories in my heart_

_Dead memories in my heart_

Ash was almost at the point of sobbing uncontrollably, the image of his loved ones continuing to cram themselves into his mind. He had thought that by now, he was over the tragedy, but apparently not.

_Dead Visions in your name_

_Dead finger in my veins_

_Dead memories in my heart_

_Dead memories in my heart_

_Dead memories in my heart_

_Dead memories in my heart_

Ash awoke with a start, launching himself upward into a sitting position breathing heavily. His eyes were red and wet with tears and his entire body was covered in sweat. He wiped the tears and looked around the campsite.

He saw Pikachu and Dratini sleeping together next to him, and saw that everybody else was still, Max snoring and May mumbling something about ice cream in her sleep.

He saw the campfire was going out, the flame was nearly gone and it was mostly embers now. It was also still night, and the moon was still high in the sky. Ash checked his Pokénav and saw that it was only 2:30 in the morning. He sighed heavily and laid himself down.

'That was insane, I never want to have a dream like that again,' he thought to himself, closing his eyes and pulling the sleeping bag covers towards him. Then, he let himself fall into a less intense sleep.

Afterthought

Sorry guys, that's all I have for you today.

My longest chapter ever written to date. Anyways, I'm sorry I haven't gotten a chance to update lately, like I said I accidentally deleted the original version of this and I got caught up on other things as well.

Anyways, funny songs to look up if you haven't already….

"Everybody's A Little Bit Racist" –by Avenue Q

"The Internet is for Porn"-by Avenue Q

"Jizzed in my Pants"-by Lonely Island

"I Just Had Sex"-by Lonely Island

"I'm Bo Yo"-by Bo Burnham

"My Whole Family Thinks I'm Gay"-by Bo Burnham

And the hilarious and extremely strange song that inspired my penname….

"Like A Boss"-by Lonely Island

So there you go, if you get bored or have never watched these before you can do that on YouTube of course (I advertise the fuck out of YouTube don't I), and there are all hilarious (or retarded, however you look at them) and remember that I don't own any of these songs, in this list or my story.

Lastly, I hope all of you have an awesome Valentine's Day!

Til next time!

See Ya!


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13- New Front, New Friends, New Feelings**

What? I updated? …..Uh-oh! Hotdog!

Ok Geckoguy, the moment you specifically have been waiting for! (I really hope I don't ruin this...) :(

Anyways, sorry I took a little writing vacation (took some time to be a reviewer for once) but that doesn't matter anymore cause I'm back!

I'll intro some new characters here and get you all accustomed to them because they're along for the ride now!

Some you'll like, some you may not like but hey, how could a few more OC's hurt when I've already created like 20 of them already! (One of the new ones isn't mine by the way, it's borrowed).

For you music fans, sorry no rock/metal today! :(

Enjoy! :)

Dewford Island has been peaceful for the most part, which is surprising because it is so close to the front. All of the defending Karalian troops stationed there (the 6th. Army Division and supporting Naval and Air units) have not received much action.

Mostly, they would just listen to the loud booms of artillery and explosions across the southwestern Hoenn channel. Besides a random MIG-28, 29, or 21 coming in for a pointless strafing run, (only to get shot down by fixed and mobile AA cannons) things were pretty quiet here for the most part.

However, today was going to be the opening of the second front. The Yukes realized that they were getting to bottled-up and bogged down in Rustboro City. The stalemate there didn't please the impatient Yuktorussian commanders.

Their new strategy was to swing a fresh strike force southward, and while keeping the main Karalian Army occupied in Rustboro, they would seize Dewford Island and use it as a strike base for the Yuke Air Force.

Also, they would use that new foothold to prepare assaults on the nearby Naval ports in Slateport City and Littleroot Town simultaneously, and use them as forward naval bases for the Yuktorussian Navy.

The troops that captured Slateport would then move northward to Mauville City to keep any Karalian reinforcements at bay. Meanwhile, the Littleroot force would take Olddale Town and cut off the defending Karalian troops in Rustboro City from the rest of Karalia.

Both the main Yuke force in Rustboro and the newly arrived Littleroot group will pincher the Karalian Army and pancake them, driving them back into Petalburg City, and to eventually surround the Karalians and eliminate the remnants of their army.

Once that's done, they'll reinforce the Mauville group and proceed to seize the rest of Hoenn. In order to stop this from happening, the Karalian Army cannot afford to let Dewford Island fall to Yuktorussia.

That's because if Dewford Island falls, then the Yukes would have somewhere to park their heavy bombers and numerous fighter squadrons. That would allow Yuktorussia to get the upper hand in air superiority in the southwestern part of Hoenn and then the domino effect would ensue. If Karalian air power falls, then eventually their naval power will fall and their ground power as well.

Stationed on Dewford Island with his squad stood Will Contara. At 18, he had brown hair and stood at 5'9 with a M16A2 assault rifle with a sling, the stock of the rifle in his shoulder. He also had a suppressed MP5 sub-machinegun hanging diagonally across his back, also with a sling.

He also had a FN five-seven handgun sitting in a holster on his beltline, (The company's CO had consented to him carrying that instead of the standard issue Beretta M9), and he also had a square pack on his right hip that held the four hand grenades that he was required to carry.

He was standing on a rocky cliff at the north edge of the island, overlooking the southern channel between Dewford Island and Rustboro City.

Will was staring out into the ocean, wondering about his future, what job he'd get if he survived the war, whether he would be remembered if he didn't, things like that are natural to go through the mind of a soldier.

The cool ocean breeze swept across his face, and made his bangs sway in the wind. He took a deep breath and let the calm feeling sink into his veins and the fresh air into his lungs.

He had never seen actual combat before, mainly because he and his platoon had only been deployed here a week ago. Will had never been shot at before, until later today that is.

Behind him was the rest of his squad of which he was the assistant squad leader. He was a member of a 5 man squad. Today, they had been detached from 4th. Platoon and were ordered by the Company CO that their only duty for today was to be just a little recon assignment.

To scan the coastline for incoming Yuke Forces, mainly to spot enemy aircraft that the radar couldn't spot and relay the message to the AA gunners scattered across the island. Some Yuke MIGs like to come in low to escape radar detection and wreak havoc with their cannons and missiles.

The CO was pretty lax about this assignment, convinced that the **real **fighting was in Rustboro City.

Will looked back towards his squad and didn't see an ounce of discipline among them for the moment. Surprisingly, they were pretty disciplined…just not right now.

One man, an African Karalian of about 21 years old with black hair and stood at 6'2 with a muscular build to boot was sleeping on a rock with his tan Kevlar helmet over his eyes. Judging by the chevrons on his shoulder, one can assume that he was a Staff Sergeant and he was also the squad leader.

He had is M16 resting on his chest, moving up and down with his lungs as he took breaths. His name was Damien Jacobs. Will, although only a Corporal, was his assistant squad leader.

Across from the napping Damien was 18 year-old Adrian Montoya, the squad's only SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) gunner. He had long purple hair with a serious face and a cold demeanor to match.

He was methodically cleaning his light machine-gun with a rag, and had his Javelin anti-tank launcher sitting on top of the rock he sitting with his back to. He wasn't one for playing around. Everything was business to him.

He was also something of a recluse. He was a good team player but that's as far as he went when it came to interacting with other human beings.

Why he was like that mystified Will, but he decided to leave that subject alone and not mess with it, mainly because he thought Adrian might snap on him one day, and Will was a little nervous about that. Adrian was a good soldier though, Will thought it was a good idea to keep things business-like around him.

Next to Adrian to the right, also sitting against a boulder, was the exact opposite of Adrian. A cheerful (and hyper) 18 year old fresh out of basic training (boot camp) with a blue, wavy, skater, haircut.

(In the Karalian Army, you were allowed to grow your hair back out while you're deployed as long as you can see and it doesn't get in the way. Usually for guys, you want to keep your hair from falling below the bottom-edge of your helmet.

For a girl, you're hair should either be the same length or wrapped into a bun. At basic training and the time you're not deployed into the field however, you must keep your hair nice and short. Weird rules right? It's the Karalian military's regulations though.)

The blue-haired kid, Charlie Daniels, was 2nd. Squad's version of the classic village idiot. He was the wannabe comedian of the group. Although most of his jokes were terrible and ill-timed, his constant, clumsy mistakes kept the squad laughing. He had a nagging habit of doing something completely stupid, or just being an idiot.

Sometimes Will wondered how the hell Charlie Daniels made it through basic training. Charlie was reading a comedy magazine he produced from his pack, laughing at the jokes inside.

Across from Charlie, was Aubrey Garcia, the only female of 2nd. Squad, 4th. platoon. Like the others, she was 18 and only a private second class. She was 4th. platoon's only sniper.

Being a sniper was particularly easy for her because she had a cool, calm demeanor. They say that women make better snipers because they are more patient and more relaxed, but it's not positive whether that's true or not.

She had medium-length green hair and was fairly curvy. As far as girls go, she looked pretty decent. She was trying to tell Charlie about the wonders of different flavors of ice cream and rock music. She had a thing for Charlie, which disturbed Will.

"How could someone so smart and cool go for a buffoon like Charlie," Will whispered to himself. He told himself in his mind that he felt that way because he was being logical, but secretly, he knew for a fact that he liked Aubrey himself, and was a tad bit jealous of Charlie.

Aubrey had a M21 sniper rifle with a variable scope leaning on the rock next to her and a Beretta M9 in her holster on her petite waist and her square pack with four grenades. Charlie had the same loadout as her just take away the M21 and replace it with an M16A2.

Damien, the sleeping squad leader, had Charlie's loadout except that his included 6 claymores and a hand-held radio and he had an M4A1 Carbine in place of the M16A2.

Everybody had 8 magazines for each primary weapon and 4 mags for each secondary weapon. That also meant that Adrian had four missiles for his Javelin.

Damien figured that this pointless mission was something to do before their squad was reassigned. That's right, reassigned. General Bradley Crawford, with the approval and extra funding of Richard Carson, ordered the creation of the Republic of Karalia's first Special Forces branch, and Staff Sergeant Jacob's squad was to be one of the few squad selected out of the regular army to be retrained in this new, experimental, field for the nation of Karalia.

(President Carson thought it was appropriate to change the name of the country, Republic of Karalia sounded better to him and the Senate agreed without protest, but there was still controversy about his new enlistment age bill that was still under argument at this point, of which will be explained later).

Will didn't know much about this new branch, except that it was to be called the **Republican Guard Divisions **and were created to match (and hopefully) outclass the Yuktorussian Spetsnaz in the field.

He wasn't worried too much about being retrained, after all, if you were going to fight, you might as well be the best, right? That's what he thought personally about the change in the way he was going to fight fight for the **ROK** (Republic of Karalia).

He also thought about how much it sucked having to be retrained and all, but on the whole, he didn't mind. However, he was a little concerned about what would happen to him if he didn't make the cut, although he assumed that, with his physique, he would be able to qualify.

He looked back at his squad, the members of which had become his friends (somewhat) in their time together. Then he saw Charlie drop his magazine and tell a corny joke to Adrian…

Bad idea.

"If you ever say that to me again, I'll rip off your balls and shove them up your ass! So when you shit, you shit on your balls!" An irritated Adrian fired back at Charlie unexpectedly.

"Sheesh, calm down man, it was just a joke," Charlie said, being serious for once.

"WOW, Adrian was funnier than you Charlie, and he was being serious," Will commented while giving Charlie a disappointed smirk. Then, Will burst out laughing at Adrian's unintended comedy, which sadly, was way better than Charlie's.

"Hey, I will get better and be a professional comedian one day," Charlie said, trying to redeem himself.

"With jokes like that, the entire audience would commit suicide in the first 5 seconds," Adrian said coldly, still with an annoyed look on his face.

"Oh, come on man! It wasn't that bad!" Charlie whined, desperately trying to defend himself.

"Uh…yeah, it was Charlie!" Adrian snapped, wanting Charlie to just shut up already. Unfortunately, he would get his wish in about 2 minutes. Adrian was resisting the undeniable urge to sock Charlie in the face.

"I thought it was funny," Aubrey chimed in.

"Well, of course YOU thought it was funny," Will mumbled just loud enough to be heard, with his arms crossed.

"What was that? Do you have something to say to me?" Aubrey demanded, turning to Will.

"Uh…nothing. I…didn't say anything. (cough) (cough) allergies," Will tried to play it off.

"Riiiiggghhhttt," Aubrey responded, seeing right through his lame excuse.

The argument was about to escalate but didn't get a chance to. The reason being is because a naval artillery shell hit the cliff about 20 feet away from the group, causing the entire squad to jump into action.

Damien popped up from his relaxing state and shrieked:

"Oh, shit!" As more shells started falling all around them, creating craters on the cliff they were on.

Damien quickly scanned the channel for enemy units with his high-tech eyepiece on his helmet and uncovered a large number of Yuke ships about 50 miles from the coastline. After that, Damien and his squad scrambled to collect all of their equipment and get out of there.

"We've got to get out of range of those big guns, and I'll try to radio HQ near the city," Damien yelled, while trying to get a signal on the radio and sprinting down the mountain with the others close behind.

Will was gunning it as fast as he could, his M16 other equipment banging themselves against his body. His lungs were starting to burn, his unbuckled helmet falling off of his head, and he was trying his best not to go deaf from all of the explosions.

HQ responded immediately. The Colonel (the base commander) was on the other end.

"Viper 6, what's your status?" The Colonel asked.

"Sir, we have taken heavy artillery fire from the top of the cliffs, and there is a huge fleet headed our way," Damien responded frantically.

"We know, we've already detected them on our radar here, have you got the coordinates of the enemy ships on your eyepiece?" The Colonel asked, while standing in Dewford Island's military HQ's radar control room.

"Yes sir, coordinates are: 5….7….X-ray….Zulu…..Baker….4….6….Alpha!" Damien squeezed in between breaths.

"Roger that Viper 6, I've got a fighter squadron to cover until you get out of the danger zone," The Colonel finished.

Roger that sir, Viper 6 out," Damien finished as he and his team made a dash for the HQ near Dewford Town. They were almost there. Little did they know that the entire Yuktorussian 6th. and 7th. Armies were on landing ships (Armies 1-5 were fighting in Rustboro City), waiting to board hovercraft and prepare an amphibious invasion of Dewford Island.

Things were about to go from bad, to total shitstorm.

**Road to Mauville City- 0948 hours**

The morning sunlight swept into the open grassy area bordered by a stream to the left and a forest to the right. This is where Ash and company had camped out for the night. The sun's rays shined themselves on May's beautiful face, causing her to open her sapphire eyes slowly and let out a silent yawn.

She sat up in her sleeping bag and surveyed the landscape around her. She saw that the fire was reduced to a pile of ashes with a little smoke rising above the pit. It was a clear day and everything looked lively and peaceful as a few taillow flew overhead. May gazed up at them and smiled.

This was a good change of scenery for her. The peacefulness and calmness in the air had a reviving and refreshing quality to it. A break from the chaos that ensued back in Petalburg, the obliterated city that she used to call home.

She then turned her attention to her family. Max was snug in his sleeping bag snoring loudly, as usual. Caroline and Norman were sleeping together in a shared sleeping bag that was jumbo-sized. Then May spotted her father's AK-74 leaning against a tree, a few feet behind where he and his wife were still sound asleep.

Yesterday, he complained about being low on ammunition, something about only having 'four rounds left in the magazine' which May interpreted as 'I'm running low on bullets'. Ash then stated that he still had 24 rounds left in his magazine.

That's when May came up with what she thought was an excellent idea. She suggested that Ash could give 10 rounds to her dad so that they could be even. Ash and Norman both just looked at each other and started laughing and May became irritated. She complained that her idea was genius and that it didn't deserve to be laughed at.

They both apologized and Ash explained to her that both guns fired different types of rounds so it wouldn't work if you switched them around like that. He told her in depth (showing off his extensive knowledge that Norman has been pounding into his brain day after day), that his M16A2 fired 5.56mm rounds and that Norman's AK-74 fired 7.62mm rounds, and also explained how you couldn't get them mixed up by putting the bullets in the wrong guns.

May told Ash she understood (even though she was extremely confused and didn't really care) to get them off her back. She reasoned that only Ash and Norman had to worry about things like that.

May got up from her sleeping bag and decided to take a walk along the stream for some fresh air. She picked up her pokeballs and figured that her Pokemon might need some fresh air as well.

She called out everyone and tossed all 6 of her pokeballs in the air. They produced a Blaziken, Skitty, Glaceon, Beautifly, Munchlax, and a Wartortle. They all yawned and stretched and stared at May for further instructions.

"Come on guys, let's go for a stroll!" She yelled enthusiastically, and then covered her mouth immediately, remembering her sleeping family was still near her. She checked to make sure that she didn't wake anyone and saw everyone was still asleep, save for Ash's empty sleeping bag.

'Huh? I wonder where he went. He probably needed some fresh air too, so I guess I'll just have to catch up to him,' She thought before she left. She then recognized that a sleeping Pikachu and Dratini's pokeball were still next to the sleeping bag.

'Weird,' she thought to herself.

'He always takes his Pokemon, especially Pikachu, no matter where he goes. I'll just have to ask him about that when I find him,' she thought solemnly, sensing that something wasn't right.

She started to walk northward along the stream with her Pokemon following her as she took a huge breath and exhaled trying to establish a calm feeling throughout her body. Maybe today things will be normal for once. Maybe.

**Sky Over Dewford Island- 0950 hours**

"This is Wingull 1; enemy is in range, permission to engage?" The fighter pilot asked the Colonel over the radio.

"Wingull Squadron, permission to engage granted. Kick some ass boys," the Colonel responded.

"Roger that sir. Wingull Squadron, check left," The squadron leader commanded as they swooped in toward the oncoming Yuke ships. The ships AA didn't seem to notice them yet and they were coming in too fast anyway. All they had to watch out for was SAMs and enemy fighters, the latter of which, was nowhere to be found as the sky was clear except for them. As least, they weren't any fighters yet.

The lead pilot flipped on the 'Master Arm' switch in the cockpit to turn on the 2 anti-ship, and the 2 air-to-air missiles his F-18 Superhornet was outfitted with. The F-18 Squadron was also outfitting with 20mm cannon each.

The lead pilot tried to paint a heavy cruiser he had picked out from the fleet, and one of his anti-ship missiles got a lock on the cruiser and beeped wildly once it did.

"Wingull 1, Fox Three!" Was what he said as he pushed the missile fire button on his joystick and the missile came to life as it left the F-18's wing and rocketed towards the Yuke cruiser at extreme speed, leaving behind a trail of smoke . The 3 other F-18 pilots followed suit.

"Wingull 2, Fox Three!"

"Wingull 3, Fox Three!"

"Wingull 4, Fox Three!"

Four anti-ship missiles slammed into the huge warship, causing a massive explosion as the cruiser started to sink immediately. The Karalian fighter squadron turned their sights on a Yuke destroyer and collectively fired two more anti-ship missiles at it and it exploded and joined its larger comrade on the ocean floor.

As they started to move in on a Yuke transport ship, missiles started flying at the F-18's from above. 12 Yuke MIGs swooped in and started pelting the F-18's with cannon fire and furiously launching air-to-air missiles at them, causing the Karalian squadron to break apart as one F-18 caught a enemy missile and blew into pieces before the poor Karalian could eject.

"Whoa! We lost Wingull 2! Reengage and switch to AM9 Sidewinders," the squadron leader commanded his flight. An F-18 followed a lone MIG and received tone on his missile lock system:

"Wingull 3, Fox Two," the pilot said as the air-to-air missile downed a MIG-28.

However, a missile form another MIG shot him down immediately afterward, killing the pilot instantly. The two remaining F-18's decided that they had enough and turned tail and retreated with MIGs hot on their tail.

They just flew over Dewford Island's coastal SAM's to ward off the MIGs and the survivors went in to land.

"I think we held them off long enough to get our defenses ready, now we know what we're dealing with, and we bagged a few kills on the way," the flight lead told his only remaining subordinate as they were landing.

"Too bad about Toby and Jones," he added, referring to the two F-18 pilots that were lost in the stalling mission.

**Dewford Island (Near HQ) - 0955 hours**

"Well…this doesn't look good," Damien said while looking behind through his eyepiece. He spotted tons of Yuktorussian heavy bombers and fighters filling the air and continued to hear naval artillery shells hit the coastline, which included the cliff face they were chilling on 5 minutes ago.

"That doesn't sound good Staff Sergeant,' Will said, gesturing to the artillery booms while trying to turn on his eyepiece to see what Jacobs saw.

The squad hitched a ride on an army supply truck that happened to be passing through, and the driver saw 2nd. Squad sprinting down the mountain at full bore, and decided to ask what was up. Damien told them that they were under attack, and that they needed to reach headquarters, so the driver took his word and gave them a ride.

"We've gotta get ready for a brawl people. No way I'm getting my ass handed to me by some Yuke bastard who thinks he's hot shit," Adrian stated unemotionally.

"I wonder if the Colonel could hook me up with some fried chicken…KFC mmmm," Charlie said randomly, looking at the sky with a blank stare. That earned him 'WTF' looks from the whole squad.

"If the enemy doesn't kill you, I will," Adrian said cruelly to a still fantasizing Charlie.

"Guys, cool it. Now's not the time for this," Damien said, pointing his finger at both of them.

**Road to Mauville City- 0958 hours**

May was walking down the edge of the stream with her Pokémon following close behind, stretching and chatting amongst themselves. She turned around and smiled at all of them and then turned back around to find Ash sitting on a huge boulder, staring out into the lake with an expressionless face.

'He seems to be deep in thought. I wonder what's wrong?" May thought to herself.

"Maybe it was the recent events back in Petalburg City getting to him. Or maybe it was about Pallet Town?" She asked herself these questions, not knowing what the real answer was.

"So much has happened to him, it could be anything," she thought, expressing sympathy for Ash's circumstances. Determined to find out, she worked up the courage to talk to him about it personally.

"Hey!" May called out to the lonely Ash sitting on the rock. Ash looked up in surprise and reacted as though he had just broken a trance. He gave her a weak smile as she started to approach him.

"Guys, you can hang out and play along the stream," May said to her Pokemon. They all complied with their master and decided just to chill for a while, and perhaps practice their moves.

May sat down next to Ash on the rock and sat down immediately. May sat with her knees up and wrapping her arms around them, contrary to Ash's Indian style sitting.

"Why are you out here?" Ash asked her.

"I just needed some fresh air, you?" She asked, wanting to get inside Ash's head.

"Yeah…fresh air," Ash responded with a thousand-yard-stare out into the stream.

"Is something wrong Ash, you can tell me," May said as softly as she could.

"It…it's nothing. I just gotta cope with all of the crazy stuff that's been happening lately," Ash said.

"I hope I didn't worry you," he added.

"No, it's just that you usually don't go somewhere alone…you know, without Pikachu," May said, putting emphasis on 'alone'.

"I guess I just needed time to think is all," Ash replied.

"Don't worry, May. I'll be fine, it was just about everyone in Pallet Town you know," " Ash told her.

"Ash…I wish I could understand what you're going through," May said sincerely.

"I'm trying to get over it but no matter what I try to bury it with it comes back. Too many memories," Ash finished as he started to tear up rapidly. He was about to let it all out.

"Ash, please don't…," May begged as she affectionately hugged him, as the tears continued to roll down his face.

"It's all my fault. If I hadn't been so greedy and left them in that lab and just taken them with me then they could have survived. I could have gotten mom out of there as well! I don't know how, but I could have done it! But I didn't! And do you know why? Because I'm stupid!" Ash ranted and sobbed at the same time.

"Ash, stop! There was nothing you could have done about. It was beyond your control. And you're not stupid! You are the most brilliant Pokemon strategist I have ever seen! You do things that I wish I could do but couldn't in a million years! Think of all the people you've saved over the years! All the good you've done! I admire you, everything about you! I don't care if you cry, just don't do it in front of me! ….because it makes me cry…," May finished her speech as she started to tear up as well. May squeezed Ash tight as they sobbed and shared their pain with each other.

"And one more thing," May said as she looked back at Ash:

"NEVER, talk down on yourself ever again," she finished. They stayed there embracing each other for about 3 minutes and then proceeded to wipe off their tears, and head back to camp.

"I think it's time to head back," Ash said as he smiled at her and observed her sapphire eyes that reflected off the light of the sun beautifully.

'Wow, she really cares. She admires me too! I didn't know that! She's a good friend…' he thought to himself as he watched May return her Pokemon to their spherical homes. They then proceeded to return to the camp and continue as though it was a normal day.

Afterthought

Sorry if this chapter sucks, it kinda bounces around a lot. But I can assure you, chapter 14 will have action!

Review if you want! (Let me know how I did with your character Geckoguy and tell me what I messed up on and left out. Thanks!)

What movie is this scene from?

?: I love desk...I love...chair...

?2: Are you just pointing things out of the room and saying that you love them?

?: ...I love ...lamp...

?2: Do you really love the lamp?

?: ...I love lamp.

Different scene same movie:

?: It's so hot!

?: Milk...was a bad choice!

See ya! :)


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14- Fall of Dewford Island-(Part 1)**

Wow! Chapter 13 must have sucked because I've only got one comment from it when I usually get at least a few a chapter. I guess I'll have to step up my game. :) (Sorry about that, it was kind of a filler).

Well, as I promised there is going to be action in this chapter and I also have chapter 15's draft in preparation as well. (That one is going to be more political and strategic than anything else).

Also, I hope you check out my new poll! Vote if you want, I want to know whether that idea is a good one or a disaster waiting to happen.

Enjoy! :)

The beach was alive with gunfire and explosions. Karalian and Yuktorussian aircraft were buzzing overhead, desperately trying to obtain air superiority. Yuke ships were pounding away at Karalian defense turrets, bunkers, and SAM sites with their big guns. Yukes were packing the beachhead by the hundreds, soon to be the thousands.

All around was the utter chaos of war. The might of the Yuktorussian 6th. And 7th. Armies was going to be felt today.

Jacobs and his squad were 200 yards from the beach on a small hill, shooting from behind the cover of a three-foot tall sandbag barrier at the Yuktorussians landing ashore.

Will fired his M16 on three round burst, carefully concentrating at each individual Yuke he fired at. He mentally counted each round in his magazine as he fired. His strategy was to aim at the enemies that had charged the furthest from the beachhead and to drop them first.

Adrian was a few feet to the left of him, firing his SAW light-machine gun while cursing obscenities. He had set the tripod of his light- machine gun on top of the poorly and hastily constructed sandbag barrier. His body jolted from his weapon's kick as he fired.

Aubrey was a few feet to the right of Will, calmly aiming and firing at Yuke targets down the line. Will could have sworn that every time she pulled the trigger, he heard a scream coming from the beach at that exact moment.

Charlie was on the left of Adrian, firing his M16 on three-round burst. Will had to admit, when gametime came around, Charlie temporarily put aside his immaturity and almost fired with efficiency. Almost only because that Charlie wasn't a bad shot….but he wasn't exactly an Aubrey at accuracy. All in all, in this fight, he was holding his own.

Damien was on the left of Charlie, letting the Yuke infantry have it with his M4 Carbine. He had just slapped in a fresh mag for his carbine and mowed down 17 Yukes in under 12 seconds. Basically, he was good. It's no wonder General Crawford chose this squad as one to be reassigned, provided that they survive this fight that is.

Enemy tanks had already started to land on the beach and fire upon members of the regiment that 2nd. Squad was a part of. A Yuke Marauder battle tank had landed ashore and started wreaking havoc on 2nd. Squad's surrounding allies, by rapidly firing tank shell after tank shell into each barrier or obstacle it could see.

"Montoya! Take that damn thing out!" Damien screamed to Adrian, pointing at the Marauder frantically.

"With pleasure Staff Sergeant!" Adrian yelled back as he dropped his SAW and picked up his Javelin.

Charlie went behind Adrian and removed the back and front coverings of the Javelin's missile tube. Adrian was trying to get a lock on the armored beast down the hill. The Javelin's targeting system showed a red diamond floating around the tank in midair, wildly moving around it, gaining a heat signature on the tank's engine. The red diamond zoomed in place over the tank and the receiver beeped.

"Fire the Javelin," Charlie yelled.

"Firing the Javelin," Adrian responded as he pulled the trigger and missile flew above the Marauder and then sunk itself on top of the tank and a massive explosion occurred.

The tank's turret popped off as the tank itself was obliterated in a split second. All that was left of the monster was a flaming piece of metal laying in the middle of the beach. However, during this time the Yuke forces had used the tank as a distraction and had already pasted the destroyed Marauder and had advanced close their position on the hill.

Adrian had slung his Javelin on his shoulder and picked up his SAW and began repeating his previous ritual. Damien saw that Scorpions, Marauders, light assault vehicles, and infantry were pouring onto the beach at an alarming rate. He realized that most of the other defenders had either retreated or had been slaughtered, and that his team wouldn't be able to hold the current position.

"Fall back! We got to fall back," Jacobs urged.

He gave off one last burst from his rifle and started to retreat. Charlie followed Damien, and Aubrey followed him. Will started to follow her but as he started to run, he turned back and saw that Adrian hadn't moved.

Adrian was still firing down the beach at approaching Yukes, and shouting obscenities like before. Will figured that he didn't hear the order and went to retrieve him.

"Come on, Montoya! Jacobs ordered us to fall back!" Will yelled as he ran up to him and put his hand on Adrian's shoulder.

"Why, I have the Yukes right where I want them!" Adrian spat at him.

"We have to leave now!" Will said desperately, looking at the approaching enemy.

"Then leave, panzee! I'm staying!" Adrian said with a hint of sadism in his voice.

"No, I'm not leaving anyone!" Will said as he grabbed Adrian by the pack and proceeded to drag him away from the line. Adrian had dropped to a sitting position still firing his LMG as Will drug him toward safety.

Will didn't see a Yuke infantryman from 50 yards away lift his G-36 at them.

"Guys, look out!" Yelled a female voice as Will turned and saw the Yuke aim at him. Will thought he was a goner, but at the last second, a loud concussion was heard and the lifeless Yuke dropped to the sandy floor. Will turned to his left and saw Aubrey drop the barrel of her M21 and look back at Will.

"Well, are you going to stare at me, or are you going to move?" She demanded.

Without response and in shock, he continue to drag Adrian out of the hot zone while ignoring his heinous comments toward the enemy.

**Weeks ago-Goldenrod City-1200 hours**

Andrew Slavik, or 'Drew' as he was called here, had just had dinner with his old rival coordinator, May. They had talked about many things and Drew had started to flirt with her. He saw that he was making progress and just as he was about to ask her out, he received a call.

He excused himself and departed the building into the winter landscape outside. He groaned at the call, because he knew that by the caller id, he would have to cancel his personal life here and return home.

He picked up the phone and a middle-aged man speaking Rycinian answered.

"My son, your country is now calling upon you," the man said.

"Father, do I have to go now, I was just making progress," he said referring to May.

"It is an important mission, and I promise you, whatever you had over there you will gain tenfold here. Now…do you remember your training?" The man demanded.

"Of course father, but are we executing **Operation: Rycinian Dawn **now? I thought we needed more time and men," Drew asked.

"Don't worry, my son, I have connections in high places and we are now ready, report to Anskov Special Forces Base in three days. We will brief you and brush you up on your techniques, is that understood?" The mystery man demanded.

"Understood father, I'm on my way," Drew said in Rycinian as he hung up.

He looked at May through the window and went back inside. He paid the bill and told May he had to leave.

"Why?" She said, hurt.

"It's something important, goodbye," Drew responded.

"But I thought we were making progress Drew," May pointed out, trying to get him to stay. She had become even more infatuated with him as her journey in the Jhoto went on. She thought that this was the time everything was supposed to fall into place. Apparently not.

"May, whatever you thought we had was complete crap, okay! Just forget about me and go on with your life! Your illusions are blinding you and your stupid for believing them!"

He shouted at her as he turned to leave, truth be told, this was actually hard for him to say. But nation came first, and he was hungry for glory. Whatever he had felt for this girl was overshadowed by glory, and images of the reward he would receive for his duties.

"….And good luck at the Grand Festival," He unemotionally, as he turned around and walked away.

May stood there, eyes filled with tears, not knowing what to do next. Her only love had crushed her, one of the primal reasons why said had come to Jhoto had just told her that she was stupid, and that she had her head in the clouds. Perhaps she was stupid. Her life had just taken a huge blow in a period of under a minute.

She just wanted to go home now. She wanted to know why he had left so quickly. Perhaps it was her fault. Perhaps it was another girl. Whatever it was, May felt that she had no reason to be in Jhoto any longer. She dropped her head, wiped her tears, and headed towards the Pokémon Center in confusion of what to do next.

Afterthought

Sorry, it's so short guys but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. Anyways, vote in my new poll and remember….Your comments are vital!

See ya guys! :)


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15-This Chaotic World**

Hey guys, me again. Just gonna get into the politics a little bit and give you all a history lesson while I'm at it.

I do realize that I have been neglecting the Pokémon themselves in the story (have already been asked questions about that obvious fact) and let me just say that I am working on that.

I'm seriously considering Grammaguy's option, if not a variation of his suggestion.

Anyways, enjoy this chapter for now and chapter 16 will include Fall of Dewford Island Part 2, 17 will probably have Ash and friends in it and 18 will deal more with Anthony Ketchum's risky rebellion.

Do you see the pattern? I seem to bring in Anthony every 6 chapters…

:D

Snow had already fallen in the Karalian capital of Saffron City. It was only a few weeks from Christmas and many civilians were out shopping in winter coats for the upcoming holidays.

In the center of the city, sat the Senate Hall. The symbol of the Karalian government, aside from the White Mansion, which was a mere six blocks away.

Inside was a different kind of battle that wasn't fought with guns or Pokémon, but with words and persuasion. The vote for the enlistment bill was today.

"Why not?" Carson demanded, staring down one of Wilkinson's underlings he had just been in a heated argument with. The nervous Democrat didn't respond immediately and started to break out in a sweat. Carson took advantage of his momentary silence to continue.

"We need the extra men. We can't just annex the Unova Region, the repercussions would be great. Besides, how can we be so sure that they'd cooperate with us, and we do not have that kind of time gentlemen.

The Yuktorussians are bearing down on us, and we can't let ourselves get distracted by this. The ideas you Democrats pitch are twice as insane as mine!" Carson continued, the underling now had the time to recover and answered.

"The Unova Region might want to work with us, seeing that they're economy is in tatters," The underling said weakly.

"Are you kidding? They wouldn't surrender their independent government! What would that do to us diplomatically? How will the other nations of the world view us?

As bullies that take what they want, when they want it? I don't think that'll blow over well with the **World Federation**," Carson remarked, referring to the Pokémon world version of the UN or NATO.

"Lowering the enlistment age is much more reasonable, abrasive as it sounds," Carson added.

Reasonable? You think sending children off to fight a war is reasonable? …..Alright, go ahead.

But keep in mind Mr. President, you're going to have to deal with a fucked up generation of young men coming home when the war's over," Wilkinson himself told the President, trying his best to present the President and witnesses with potential problems with the morals behind the bill.

"This is not as bad as you people think it is. You have completely blown this issue out of proportion. Let me remind you that Yuktorussia enlists at 14 years old. Marcadia enlists at 14 years old. Vikoria enlists at 14 years old.

And even The People's Republic of Rycinia hires Red Guards at age 12, and sometimes even younger!

What's wrong with matching what many countries have done already?

Let me say this, what would happen if we don't increase our troop numbers? Well, I'll tell exactly what will happen.

Our military will be too weak to defend this new, great nation. Our country will fall apart, and our citizens will be forced to live under harsh Yuktorussian rule.

Then, the world's greatest Democracy dies, and then fellow democracies around the world will crumble in a domino effect. This isn't just about Karalia gentlemen… it's about the world.

It's about the survival of democracy and freedom. It's about human rights and equality. It's about everybody. Those brave young men on the frontlines, doing our bidding, are unknowingly or knowingly, fighting and dying for those very ideals.

The ideals that keep us human, rather than living under totalitarianism.

Gentlemen, I hope that you see that it is your responsibility and your duty to vote for this bill and have it passed. It would ensure the survival of freedom and will implement justice on the Yuktorussian menace," The President pauses for a few seconds to take a breath, then continues.

"We also have a 126 trillion credit surplus in the Federal Treasury, left over from the arms race 50 years ago that was collectively built up by the four regions throughout that time. Also, we have ridiculously huge oil fields in Kanto and Hoenn. We have extremely large iron, copper, and other precious and valuable metal deposits in both Jhoto and Sinnoh.

The point is, our country has been blessed by Mother Nature and given vast resources, and that we are rich with funding as well.

The only problem we seem to have is the number of citizens volunteering for military service. That's what we need gentlemen, and I intend on getting it with this bill.

Please take my words and these facts into consideration when you vote for or against this bill today, that is all I ask from you.

Because I can assure you, no matter what you choose, your decision will change the world forever," President Carson finished his speech as thunderous applause followed.

Of course, all of the Republicans were applauding and to the dismay of Senator Wilkinson, even some of his most loyal Democrats that were instantly converted applauded as well.

He knew for a fact that in the Senate, there was a 64% Republican majority. If even his own Democrats voted for the bill, then he would be finished in short order. The bill would sail through the Senate and into law.

**Naval Port of Olivine City- Aboard the Flagship Saffron-0952 hours**

Supreme Admiral McAdam had just finished preparations for his growing naval fleet to organize a strike force to hit the superior Yuke Navy off the coast of Rustboro City. Unfortunately for him, he was ordered to stop the attack at the last minute.

General Crawford told him about the surprise attack on Dewford Island and that the navy was going to be needed there.

Much to McAdam's dismay, (wanting to avenge his honor that the Yukes took from him by kicking his ass in the engagement out in Ceres Ocean) he was ordered to sail around the entire nation to avoid enemy detection to support the defense forces on Dewford Island.

Crawford told him that he would link up with 5 carriers and dozens of other naval ships on the way there. McAdam complained that this would take weeks but Crawford told him that if he attacked the fleet in Rustboro, he'd waste his entire fleet at his disposal.

Crawford told that because the Yuktorussians were constantly receiving fresh reinforcements from the Daughterland every week.

As much as he disagreed with these decisions, Crawford outranked him, and he had no choice but to follow orders. Now McAdam was afraid that by the time he got there, it would be too late.

On the other hand, the Yuktorussian forces in Rustboro were not falling for McAdam's submarines anymore. He stopped the raids when a patrol discovered Yuke subs and Destroyers vigorously protecting their fleets.

Still, McAdam did not like the idea of taking a major portion of the Karalian fleet away from the coastline for so long. Weeks, months might pass.

"Honestly, I just don't want to be too late," McAdam said to himself, looking out of the control tower's window at the parked F-18's and Harriers below.

**Karalian Strategic Defense Command- Karalian Military Headquarters- 1000 hours**

Snow had fallen on the runways of the air base. Some base personnel had already gone out with snow shovels to clear the runways for F-22 Raptors to land here from Sunyshore City in the Sinnoh Region to refuel.

Those 3 squadrons of Raptors would then proceed towards Hoenn, to join the fight.

General Crawford was outside watching the men shovel the snow off of the runway with a cup of coffee in one hand and, documented orders to Admiral McAdam in the other.

'The horror of war has yet to reach here…and hopefully it never will,' he thought to himself as he took a deep breath to clear his mind.

What astonished the general the most was the fact that neither Karalia nor Yuktorussia keen on nuking each other when the war first started. Both nations had a decent stockpile built up from the arms race that ended 50 years ago.

The arms race and 10 year 'cold war' was between the alliance of Russia, Rycinia, Arcadia, Marcadia, and Lukensho on one side, and Yuktorussia, Germany, Anea, Vikoria, North Islands, and the regions of what is now the Repbulic of Karalia made up the other side.

(Germany used to be very close to both Yuktorussia and Rycinia, but when Rycinia went communist immediately after the arms race, Germany basically dumped them, and only traded with Yuktorussia. This was why the Yuke regular army uses G-36c's instead of the AK.

The stubborn Spetsnaz, even though they like the G-36, for unknown reasons, still perfers the AK. The Germans offer the Yuktorussians low prices on weapons and equipment. To this day, the two nations still maintain a business-like relationship).

The cold war ended when Russia and her allies' economies nearly collapsed from the strain of an expensive nuclear arms race. An unofficial truce was called and the world was once again at peace. Ever since then, the world has been an inactive powder keg waiting to explode.

It's amazing that Yuktorussia used to be allies with what is now Karalia, so long ago. The war 200 years ago, was an actual 'hot' war, not a weapons race.

It was the Yukorussian revolution against the Motherland. The Yuke rebels' guerrelia and nickel-and-diming tactics eventually wore the Russian army down.

Crawford's mind was stuffed with these history lessons as a young lieutenant approached him.

"Sir, new developments on Dewford Island," the lieutenant said mechanically as he saluted the General. Crawford returned the salute and the lieutenant moved into a parade rest stance.

"Tell me everything that unfolded lieutenant," Crawford demanded.

"Sir, due to the lack of respectable Karalian naval presence, the enemy fleet has surrounded Dewford Island, almost completely," the younger of the two reported grimly.

"What do you mean 'almost'?" Crawfod demanded again.

"Sir, a small naval detachment, supported by ground rocket artillery, have been able to hold the waterway from Dewford Island to Pacifilog Town," the lieutenant finished his briefing.

"That may be our only means of escape. Are our ships in Slateport and LIttleroot strong enough to confront the emeny fleet?"

"No sir, they are horribly outnumbered and undermanned. In other words, they wouldn't last very long in direct combat," the lieutenant reported grimly once again.

"Damn, have them support that detachment holding that waterway. They need to hold out for at least two weeks, and I fear that it may be too long a wait," Crawford finished.

"...Your dismissed, return to your post," Crawford told the lieutenant.

The lieuentant saluted Crawford and Crawford returned it. Then the lieutenant executed an about-face, scanned his ID on the door scanner, and reentered the facility as the automatic doors openned for him.

As the door closed shut, Crawford was again caught up in his thoughts, except that these ones were more current time.

'Dammit! Dewford Island has a key Joint Army and Air base there. If that falls, we may lost most of our air superiority in southwest Hoenn and give the Yuktorussians a foothold in Karalia. The fighting in Rustboro is swallowing all of my additional units that could be sent to support the 6th.

I guess I'll just have to put faith in McAdam and his fleet. He will have strength and firepower nessesary to secure Dewford Island. How come nothing is ever easy?' Crawford thought to himself, wondering why things always have been looking grim ever since the war started a few weeks ago.

Afterthought

Sorry if this chapter was so boring, don't worry, action is around the corner. I just wanted to give you guys a little insight on why things are the way they are is all.

Anyways, I hope you guys are patient with my "Pokemon Repair" as it will soon be fixed. Patience gentlemen and ladies, (if there are any ladies here) and I hope your not too annoyed with me.

Lastly, don't forget to vote in my poll! It is as essential as your reviews, remember that! :D

_There are three kinds of people in this world! Dicks, pussies, and assholes! Dicks just wanna fuck everything, pussies get angry because...pussies get fucked by dicks. But assholes get fucked by dicks too! And then you get shit all over the place!_ -Team America (Sorry if that was too provocative...I thought it was funny...WHAT!).


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16- Fall of Dewford Island- (Part 2)

As I promised I have returned! And I brought pokemon! I know some of you are probably pissed at me for the last few chapters I wrote but I hope this can satisfy you until I can repair a few things in my story.

Not much more to say!

Enjoy!

Screams, gunfire, explosions, and cries of dying men could be heard as 2nd. Squad retreated along with other assorted infantry units in a disorganized fashion. Yuke forces had already overrun almost all the beaches on the island and penetrated many of Karalia's beach defenses.

Will was retreating frantically in a dead sprint, like much of the Karalian infantry. Some would stop to turn around and shoot, and then continue running. Adrian was one of those who did so. He dropped to one knee and fired a burst from his SAW and dropped 3 advancing Yuke soldiers as they tried to chase down his squad. He got up, and then proceeded to follow his squad.

Aubrey was the fastest of the group as she was outrunning most of the entire defeated force. Her goal was to get far enough away from the Yukes so she can start picking them off from a distance. Either that or make it back to base, where she can put up a stand there.

Charlie was right behind her, confused and scared, unsure of his next move. He focused himself on Aubrey's rear end and tried his best to stay caught up with it.

Damien was running with Will behind Charlie, both trying to get out of the enemy's line of fire. Damien took ineffective potshots at the enemy on the run every few seconds or so. Adrian was lagging behind them, last because he kept stopping to shoot.

Adrian decided just to run after seeing that Yuktorussian Scorpion light tanks coming from the beach were starting to give chase to the retreating Karalian infantry. Fire from the light tanks started causing explosions around the retreating forces as the tanks pursued them.

Aubrey saw a small island forest up ahead. When she read about this island in her barracks a month ago, she learned that the forest lead directly to the Joint Army-Air Base from the direction they were going. She sprinted right for it hoping to gain some cover from the tanks in the trees. Her comrades appeared to be following her, as it would make sense, seeing that the forest was straight ahead, and only idiots would charge towards tanks.

She looked back to be sure that her comrades were following her and saw her squad only a few yards behind. Then she scanned for the enemy tanks and spotted them. She judged that they were about 500-800 yards away, which was not good. While she measured the distance from her to the tank on the run, she had now started moving up a smooth grassy hill that lead to the forest.

She decided to take one last look behind her and motioned for her squad members to follow her, then her attention was taken away as a random Karalian infantryman from another squad go flying after a direct hit from a tank shell. The shell landed in front of the poor man as he attempted to climb up the hill. He screamed as the force of the shell that landed directly in front of him, launched him backwards sending his body down the hill airborne.

This sort of immediate event that only took a split second scared and surprised Aubrey at the same time. She turned back towards the forest and entered trees started to surround her instead of tank shells.

"This operation is a fricking disaster!" She yelled in frustration as she continued on.

Just then, she heard loud engines coming from the sky and she looked up and saw the shadows of F-18's swooping over the treetops moving in the direction of the advancing enemy. A split second later, loud explosions erupted from behind her. Aubrey had just assumed that those tanks that were chasing them had just gotten bombed, which might buy the retreating forces some time.

She continued towards the military base for another 200 yards or so, and then tripped on a rock and hit the ground hard on her stomach. As she fell forward, her rifle launched itself from her grasp and landed a few yards in front of her.

"Dammit," she muttered under her breath as she got up, dusted herself off, and went to retrieve her weapon. Right as she bent down to pick it up, a Pidgeotto landed on top of the rifle clutching the scoped weapon in its claws.

The bird pokemon took off into the air at treetop level with Aubrey's rifle in its grasp. Aubrey chased the wild Pidgeotto, desperately trying to retrieve her rifle. Eventually, the Pidgeotto reached a small clearing within the forest, and dropped the rifle on the ground.

As Aubrey ran up to the clearing to pick up her rifle, she felt like she was being watched. She turned attention from the rifle and noticed dozens of wild pokemon were watching her. Some of them were limping and appeared to have wounds and injuries. She saw the Pidgeotto, 1 Aggron, 2 Geodude, 6 Poocheyenas, 3 Aron, 5 Surskit, a Trecko, a Blastoisie, and a few other straggler pokemon as well.

Aubrey wondered what they wanted with her when she noticed a huge crater almost directly behind the pokemon.

'Probably the work of Yuktorussian artillery,' she figured immediately.

Indeed a stray Yuke artillery shell had landed there causing the huge crater. The crater itself was about 20 feet wide and 5 feet deep. Then she noticed something that unsettled her.

Surrounding and even inside the crater laid the bodies of several dead pokemon. These were probably in a group with the survivors, coming together after the gunfire and explosions frightened them. A body count consisted of 3 Geodude, 2 Taillow, a Trecko, one Aron, and two Pidgey.

The sight horrified her, she had never seen dead pokemon before, it was so unreal. The bodies leaked blue blood, which she thought was strange. She had always assumed that pokemon blood was the same as humans, but apparently not. She looked back at the survivors with sympathy.

"Those poor things…they didn't deserve this," Aubrey thought, frowning sympathetically at the forlorn faces of the injured pokemon that had probably just lost family members and/or friends. Then she thought about the advancing Yuktorussian forces and the possible fate of these innocent pokemon.

'I can't just leave them here, the Yukes will slaughter them! I have to get them to the base, at least there they'll receive some form of protection,' she thought, trying to hold back tears and check her emotions.

She knew that she had to be professional about this. She knew that she had to get them out of there, with her squad's assistance of course.

'According to the standards of the Goldenrod Conventions, wild pokemon are to be treated as civilians, and I have the right as a member of the Karalian Armed Services to assist and protect them in any way possible. And that's just what I'll do. Now where are my boys at?' She thought as she turned towards the direction she came in.

She knew that she couldn't help all of the pokemon by herself and that she needed a hand from her comrades. Almost on cue, the entire 2nd. Squad burst into the clearing, desperately searching for their missing female counterpart that outran them.

Aubrey immediately picked up a Squirtle whose right arm was amputated and the socket was spewing blue blood, as Aubrey tried to get one of her dry cloths out her pack to dress the fresh, gaping wound. She wrapped the tan cloth around the stump and started to tear up, biting her lip in an attempt to keep her composure.

Her squad entered the clearing from behind her, and were astonished at what they saw: a sobbing Aubrey on her knees, trying to dress a wounded Squirtle's severed arm, other wounded pokemon crying out to them, bodies of dead ones lying in and around a crater that was spattered with blue blood, and non-wounded pokemon desperately trying to aid their hurt counterparts.

Will put his hand on Aubrey's shoulder and stared at her sympathetically as she put her head down and cried silently. Will remembered Aubrey talking to Charlie, telling him that she was an avid pokemon trainer when she was younger.

'This must have somehow made her think of her own pokemon. I don't blame her,' he thought about his own pokemon when he was younger.

"We-have to get-them outta—here," Aubrey choked out between sobs, looking up at Will.

"These pokemon are to be treated as innocent civilians and transported to safety," Damien ordered, taking charge and initiative by picking up a wounded Trecko and Surskit in each hand. Non-wounded pokemon started to follow suit.

"Wait, why? They're just useless, pathetic animals, why should we help; they'll only slow us down. The Yukes are coming. Why should we risk and waste our lives on them? I mean seriously, what have pokemon ever done for me?" Adrian retorted heartlessly.

Before Staff Sergeant Jacobs could chew him out, something stirred inside Will. He didn't know what it was, but it possessed him. Then he turned to Adrian with a pissed off glare. He was sick of Adrian's abrasiveness and had had enough.

"What is your problem man? Why are you always so negative and cruel to everybody all the time! We've got to help these pokemon, they're crying out to us, can't you see that? I don't know what your problem is, but just coooperate with us for once and let's get these poor creatures to safety, okay!" Will burst out in a fury of frustration.

He knew he had to get them moving. The enemy would be here soon. But he had to find a way to convince Adrian to play along. So he did something that he hoped would work.

"Someone must have hurt you a long time ago right Adrian? At least that's the problem in movies I've seen. Just for once man, don't be a prick. I know that there's some good in you, there has to be. Help us out," Will said in a softer tone, attempting to appeal to Adrian the best he could.

Adrian stared down Will as he bent down and slung a wounded Surskit over his shoulder, and picked up an Aron with a broken leg. Will smiled at this, but Adrian still had a mean glare on his face.

"I'm not doing this because I care, cause I don't, but it's what's necessary to get back to base," Adrian responded to Will's smile.

The entire squad teamed up with the physical capable pokemon and rounded up all the wounded. The Aggron appeared to be the leader of the group of pokemon and followed from behind, using its rock hard back to deflect bullets from advancing Yukes that had made it into the forest already.

As the rescue operation was commencing and they started moving the wounded towards the base, Damien tapped on Will's side with his free hand. Damien was bent over, like the others, carrying wounded pokemon on their backs.

"Contara, that some good shit back there. You took my job for about 20 seconds. Looks like I made the right decision of making you assistant squad leader after all," Damien said to Will, referring to the 'discussion' with Adrian a minute ago.

"I'm putting you in for a medal. Not a big one, (I wish could but I can't) but a medal," Damien said, chugging ahead of Will.

"Thank you Staff Sergeant!" Will shouted with a smile on his face. He had never gotten a medal for anything before, and he was exciting. His excitement gave him a burst of energy as he picked up speed and gunned past Adrian and Charlie, towards the base.

They entered the other half of the small forest and after 20 yards, they reached another clearing and the base was in sight. Now visible were hundreds, maybe thousands of retreating Karalian infantry all around them.

Will looked around and saw the seals of six different regiments on tan uniforms. That was not a good thing. That meant that more one beach had been overrun, because it was supposed to be one regiment to protect one beach and two regiments, and a tank/humvee battalion in reserve back at base.

12 Paladin tanks, 16 Crusaders, and twenty humvees exited the base to give the retreating infantry cover, the tanks firing shell after into the forest that was just now being swarmed by Yuke infantry and Scorpions.

A Hind approached the base at full speed, attempting to lock onto a Paladin, but immediately, a base SAM popped up and fired a missile at the Hind. The missile hit the helicopter's top rotor and the heli spun out of control and crashed in a fiery explosion in the forest.

While all this was going on, 2nd. Squad had reached the gates of the base and joined a frenzy of retreating Karalian infantry and civilians from the local area entering the base as military police ushered them inside.

The pokemon following 2nd. Squad, were sprinting inside when a Yuke Scorpion emerged from the forest crushing a tree in its wake. The Scorpion aimed its turret on the gate entrance. Before it could fire, the Aggron that had been tailing 2nd. Squad fired a powerful Hyper Beam, and it made direct contact with the tank. As it hit, the tank exploded immediately and 2nd. Squad watched in amazement as the tank commander's body launched airborne out of the tank's turret from the force of the Hyper Beam.

"I want one of those," Charlie said, pointing to Aggron.

"Maybe they ain't so fuckin' useless after all," Adrian mumbled under his breath, so no one could hear him. He still didn't want to admit that he was wrong.

The concrete walls, barbed wire, guard towers, SAMs, four fighter squadrons from the base, what was left of the 6th., and a few courageous pokemon was all that stood between the Yukes and complete control of Dewford Island.

Afterthought

Ok, next chapter will deal Ash and friends (yes I know its been a while) and that chapter 18 will have the rebellion in Rycinia.

That's about all I have planned out so far, but I already know how I want this story to end. But trust me, I don't know how many chapters it will take, it could be ten or twenty more, who knows?

Let me know how I'm doing in a review. And please vote in my poll.

Oh yeah, about the blue blood thing, before you guys complain to me, think….when have you ever seen a pokemon bleed in an episode? Besides, no one knows for sure what color their blood is and I don't think anyone cares, but I'm just saying.

By the way, I got the blue blood idea from Halo in case you wanted to know.

That is all!

See ya! :)


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17- The Bonding of a Temporary Home

I have returned. Sorry about that horrible one-shot I wrote (I hope I don't get copyrighted by secretagentbob for that) but I'm back on Republican Wars for this installment.

Now I know that you guys are dying to see the fighting in Dewford Island but I felt I should give Ash and friends some air time. After all, there are our stars. Also, a little break from the craziness wouldn't hurt either.

Maybe I'll throw in a pokemon battle as a treat for you…

Enjoy!

"Owwww!" May screamed as her little brother accidentally dropped a cardboard box filled with household on her left foot.

"Max! Watch where you're going with that thing!" May yelled, almost dropping the box she was holding in front of their new temporary house that they were going to stay in. The house was a decent house with tan paint, three bedrooms and two bathroom house. They didn't buy it, since they were only going to stay there until Petalburg City was completely safe from the front and the entire city was rebuilt.

So for now Norman was renting the house while looking for work in Mauville City. The house sat in the middle of the city in a neighborhood with identical homes. All of them had been moving belongings from their home in Petalburg City to their new home in Mauville.

Eve n though their house was still standing in Petalburg, Norman and Caroline decided that they should stay in Mauville until it was completely safe. In Petalburg City, it still looked war torn and there were air raid sirens going off every night. Many feared they was going to be a second enemy attack on the city, so to play it safe, both Norman and Caroline decided that staying away was a good idea.

Caroline wanted Mauville City because it was safe and the nearest city to go to that was away from the coast. Norman saw the fact that Mauville City was out of range of Yuktorussian bombers and that Mauville was heavily secured by the Karalian military. The defenses in Mauville were much more formidable, better prepared, and better equipped than the ones in Petalburg City.

Norman liked that detail and on that note agreed with his wife to move the family to Mauville rather than stay in Petalburg. That's what brings the Maple family and Ash Ketchum to Mauville City.

Ash, May, Max, and all of Ash and May's pokemon were hauling in belongings into the house through the front door. Then, Norman and Caroline would unload the boxes and put the proper items into the proper place. Ash's Dratini had three boxes sitting on top of its snakelike back and had a huge smile on its face as it hauled the boxes into the tan colored home.

"Wow Ash, your Dratini looks ecstatic and happy to help," May commented Ash as she walked beside Ash, both of them carrying boxes from the front yard to the front door.

"Yup, Dratini sure has a spark doesn't he?" Ash replied, cracking a smile at his loyal Dratini. Dratini and May's Skitty both dropped off boxes in the living room simultaneously.

"Thank you both," Caroline thanked them as she started opening the boxes. The two pokemon replied with a 'you're welcome' in pokemon language as they departed to collect more boxes. Pikachu and May's Wartortle dropped another set of one box each behind Dratini and Skitty's boxes.

"Keep up the good work guys," Norman praised the two as Pikachu responded by raising his arm into the air and screaming 'pika pikachu', and Wartortle simply bowed. They then followed their friends to go retrieve more boxes.

"This is going great, we're almost three-quarters of the way finished and it's not even noon yet," Norman said as he exhaled and paused to wipe his forehead.

"Whew, it's hot in here. Better have the electric company get our power and air conditioning online, and the city's water guys too," Norman said as he left the room to go get the phone.

Ash and May were both in the living room dropping off boxes, when May made a suggestion.

"Hey Ash, isn't that Dratini of yours a pokemon that you just caught?" May asked.

"Yeah, I actually caught on my way to your house in Petalburg City. Why?" Ask responded, clueless as always.

"You haven't gotten to train it much, haven't you?" May inquired again, taking a look at the Dratini as it walked through the door.

"No, I haven't gotten a chance to train it as of late," Ash said as he realized that he hasn't been strengthening his new pokemon since he caught it.

"Why do you ask?" Ash demanded.

"It's just…I was thinking that we could battle. You with your Dratini and me with my Skitty. That's all," May replied.

"What's the point of battling now? The Hoenn league and Grand Festival have been canceled this year due to Yuktorussian invasion. What good will battling do us?" Ash asked, confused.

"Well, we could use the work out, and besides we could let go of some our stress," May said with a smile as she and Ash both went through the front door to collect more boxes.

"Uhh..okay?" Ash responded, still confused. He bent down to pick up a small box. He then dropped it on top of a larger box and then proceeded to pick up the larger box.

"Ok, if you want a more practical explanation, then you could say we're training to defend ourselves against those bad Yuktorussian guys we ran into back home," May explained.

"The reason is, I remember how you used Pikachu to incapacitate that soldier in Petalburg while we were in that shack. I saw how effective that thunderbolt was on that soldier. And then I thought about other pokemon moves that could have an effect on them.

The point is, we may not be training for a league or a grand festival but there is still a reason to train. And I assumed that your Dratini could use some experience so you can depend on it in case we get attacked again. So what do you say?" May said as she finished her insight on how pokemon can be used as defense against enemy soldiers.

"Well, I guess that makes sense. Okay, we'll battle after we're done hauling boxes!" Ash agreed. At that second, Ash felt a spark inside of him. Something he had missed since he found out his home had been destroyed. It felt good, and he couldn't wait for the battle.

Also at that second, yelling and diesel engines could be heard from the street as Humvees, Troop carriers filled with infantry, and mobile rocket artillery pieces were being moved down the street, going south. These were obviously reinforcement units moving toward where the action was.

As the convoy drove by, Pikachu, Wartortle, and Beautifly stopped their work to greet the soldiers with smiles, waves, and poke words of encouragement. The only response that they got from the convoy were many stares with indifferent faces, and one Karalian trooper in a infantry transport flashing them a peace sign as the vehicle passed by.

"Okay, all the work is almost done," Ash said happily as he grabbed the last box and fast walked into the front door to catch up with May. Once they both set down the boxes, Caroline thanked them and the pokemon and also told them these were the last two that still needed to be unloaded.

Caroline informed them that Norman was going to look for a job to pay the bills after they were finished setting up the house. She told them that Norman told her that he hoped his gym leader skills were going to help him, since the military hadn't issued a draft yet, and he was too old to reenlist. Caroline also told them that she was going to look for a job too, and added that it would be harder for her because she hadn't worked since before May was born.

"So, what are guys going to do for today?" Caroline asked Ash and May with Max in the background. Max was trying to fix a crooked picture on the wall behind them.

"Well me and Ash are going to have a tune-up battle with Dratini and Skitty today mom!" May said excitedly, anticipating the event like it was the carnival or something.

"That sounds great! A nice break from the craziness. You two enjoy and don't work too hard," May's mother said with a smile as she finished up her box while Norman, behind her, had just emptied his, but he didn't appear to hear anything as he continued his work.

Max heard this and he turned around rapidly towards Ash and May but didn't keep tabs on the crooked picture he was holding up. It slammed down on his head and nearly knocked his glasses off his face.

"Can I ref?" Max said with pain concealing smile, and crooked glasses.

"Sure Max, that's fine," May replied, trying not to laugh at her little brother's plight.

"Max are you hurt?" Caroline said with concern.

"No mom, I'm good," Max replied as Caroline picked the picture frame off Max's head and put it on the wall. Max got up, and dusted himself off.

"Real smooth little brother," May joked, she hand over her mouth and face red from laughter.

"Shut up," Max replied in a defeated/embarrassed tone.

After about 5 minutes, all the work had been finished and Norman and Caroline had left the house to search for jobs in the city together. Ash, May, and Max were all setting up for their battle in the front yard.

Ash was on the left side of the yard, holding Dratini's pokeball in his throwing hand. May was on the right, holding Skitty's pokeball as well. Max was standing in between the two, ready to referee the match.

"Come on out, Skitty!" May said as Skitty materialized from its ball.

"You too Dratini!" Ash responded with equal enthusiasm as Dratini materialized from its ball. Ash felt at peace and excited once he said those words, but didn't understand why.

"Skitty, let's start off with Blizzard!" May ordered as a fury of ice and snow beelined towards Dratini.

"Dratini, use Dragon rage," Ash ordered as a ball of Dragon awesomeness slammed into Skitty's Blizzard, cancelling each other out.

"Okay, Skitty use Metronome!" May yelled as Skitty looked like it was in a trance for a second, then fired a silver wind.

"Dratini, hit back with your own Icy Wind!" Ash instructed as both winds smashed into each other, once again cancelling Ash's and May's moves.

"It's time, Skitty use Doubleslap," May ordered as Skitty closed the distance and started walloping Dratini with its tails.

"Dratini, Twister to get Skitty off of you," Ash ordered. Dratini created a mini tornado that blew Skitty away from it.

"Skitty, use Blizzard in mid air," May instructed as Skitty obeyed and ice and snow plowed through the Twister and landed a direct hit on Dratini. Dratini was gassed and just got nailed with a super effective move, so it dropped with swirls in its eyes, with an exhausted look on its face.

"Dratini is unable to battle, Skitty is the winner!" Max said as he rose his hand up on May's side of the yard. Max was astounded that Ash lost to his sister, and that his sister was smart enough to know that Dragon types were weak against ice-type moves. He was also curious about Dratini's super-powered moves, yet low stamina.

"That was a great battle May. I feel awesome," Ash said as he returned Dratini to its ball while giving it words of encouragement. He stretched his arms and wondered why he felt so exhilarated now. Like he found new life, a fresh man.

Was it because this battle reminded him of time before the war? Was it just because he hadn't had a battle since the Sinnoh League 2 weeks ago? Whatever it was, Ash needed this battle outright. Had May known that he needed this? Maybe she needed it as well and realized that they both did. Whatever the reason or agenda it was for; this battle definitely helped them both.

Both Ash and May complimented each other, and they all decided to go inside and rest. Ash and Max went inside first, and May followed after she returned Skitty to its ball and praised it for doing a good job. They sat down by the TV in the living room on the floor, seeing that the couch still had to be set up. They flipped on the TV and started channel surfing.

First channel was a toddler's cartoon, they flipped it immediately, and the second was a construction walkthrough, which they assumed was boring, so they changed channels again. The third one was a news channel, and they stopped because they heard 'Dewford'. There was a woman anchor with light brown hair and a professional appearance. The trio decided to listen to what she had to say.

"As Yuktorussian troops continue to push further into the island, it is feared that if reinforcements don't arrive fast enough, Dewford Island may be lost. The 6th. Army Division, the 4th. Armored Battalion, the 24th. Fighter Wing and hundreds of unarmed civilians, and pokemon are trapped on the island holding out within the perimeter of Dewford Army-Air Base, which is located on the island. That is all the information we have now, we will continue to keep you posted," The anchor said as she finished her analysis her sources gave her.

Ash, May, Max, and Pikachu all looked at each other with concern and worry.

"They just don't stop, do they?" May whispered negatively. She sighed and put her head down.

"Well Max, looks like we can't go home for a while, huh?" May added in equal disdain.

"Yeah, that's too bad guys. It just wants you to wish that the war was somewhere else," Ash said.

"That's okay, we could get use to this house. I mean, it's not home, but this place is still not bad," Max chimed in, trying to see the brighter side of things.

Just then, the anchorwoman started talking again after the short commercial break. But she wasn't talking about the war…at least not the one Ash and friends know of.

"In unrelated news, The People's Republic of Rycinia launched a surprise invasion on its smaller neighbor, The Socialist Republic of Lukensho. Historians find this strange because the two used to be very close allies during the 10 year cold war that ended 50 years ago. But as some say, 'times have changed'.

Many economists say that Rycinia is committing this action to capture Lukensho's resources that include 1% of the world's crude oil. The attack, led by the Rycinian Regular Army, punched through Lukensho's defenses and rapidly started seizing territory, especially near Lukensho's oil reserves. The Lukensho Army is in disarray from the sudden attack and is falling apart as we speak.

There have also been reports of a revolt in Rycinia itself, but Chancellor Randall Slavik informed us that quote: "The hypocritical, pathetic resistance against our proud, and just government will be obliterated in a matter of days by our superior and unstoppable Red Guards," unquote.

We asked out of curiosity if some of his own troops turned against him and joined the revolt and he replied with a 'no comment'. We also wonder if the Chancellor refused to use his Red Guards on the Lukenshoans is a matter of overconfidence in his military forces, or perhaps the rebellion within his own nation isn't as weak as he says it is. That is all we have for that story as we continue to cover the war back home and hotspots abroad. Thank you, and have a good evening" the anchor finished as the news report ended. The channel showed that a sitcom was up next, so May turned off the TV immediately.

"Wait, Rycinia and Lukensho are countries?" Max asked.

"Shouldn't you already know that Max?" May said, mocking the holes in Max's knowledge. Max shot back with an irritated look.

"I specialize in pokemon knowledge, not the whole world," Max replied, trying to defend himself.

"Well, you should probably study up on some world history then," May taunted, wagging her finger at her brother.

"Hey, I bet you didn't know that either!" Max responded, elevating his voice.

"At least I don't brag about how smart I am!" May yelled back. Her hands where balled up into fists at her hips, as she leaned over to Max with a furious look on her face. Ash nervously put his hands up and backed up.

"Can't we keep the peace guys. Jeesh, you fight a lot!" Ash said, trying to simmer the two siblings down.

"Well, I'm going to go study," Max said proudly as he adjusted his glasses and retreated to his room. Ash and May were alone (excluding Pikachu, that was standing next to Ash the whole time.

"Well, glad that's over," May huffed as she approached a window to look outside.

"That's was a god battle today Ash. I really enjoyed it," May said as she turned to smile at Ash.

"Yeah it felt good. Stress relief I guess," Ash answered. He approached the window beside her and looked out as well.

"What does this remind you of?" May inquired, referring to the night they both looked out the window in Petalburg City the night before the escape.

"At least no one's kicking down the door this time," Ash quipped, jokingly looking back at the front door, which was directly behind them.

"Yeah, remember that night well," May said, as the sun sunk below the horizon and the moon started to appear from the red-orange sky.

"Yeah, good or bad, I'll always remember that night," Ash added, focusing on the sky's changing colors. He turned and looked at May. He stared into her sapphire eyes and lost himself for a little while. Her face intrigued him as well. It was so perfect, so pure and innocent.

And cute. He admired the way May had been trying to salvage him from his life changing experiences and his misery. This girl had saved him from himself. It was true, he admired her. Maybe a little too much right now.

Ash snapped out of it as he realized that he was trying to restrain himself from looking at her chest.

'Woah! Hey, what is the matter with me? I can't do that, we're friends! That's it!' He thought to himself, mentally slapping himself in the face for indecency.

"Well, I'm going to take a shower before Mom and Dad come home. I also wonder what we're having for dinner tonight," she wondered as she put her index finger to her chin to imitate a thinking pose.

"Oh well, see you Ash," May said as she did something unexpected. She leaned in and kissed Ash on the cheek and then turned around immediately and walked upstairs to take a shower. In a split second, she was out of sight.

Ash was stunned.

'What just happened!' Ash asked himself in his head. He was horribly confused. None of it made sense to him.

'Okay, maybe it's nothing. Yeah, a mistake or misunderstanding. That's it!' Ash tried to reason with himself, although he wasn't buying it.

Why would she do that? But the weirdest part to him was…he kind of liked it.

Pikachu watched the whole thing and smiled evilly at Ash and taunted him in pokemon language.

"What?" Ash said, while waving off Pikachu and trying not to blush. Pikachu noticed this and only laughed louder.

"Hey, shut up! Like it's never happened to you. Remember Dawn's Bunary?" Ash fired back. Pikachu paused immediately and tilted his head.

'But Bunary was just annoying to me. You actually liked it. And don't deny it, cause I KNOW you did," Pikachu responded.

"Enough, I'm taking a shower," Ash said, starting to move towards the stairs.

"With May?" Pikachu quipped between giggles. Ash turned toward him and retorted.

"Of course not! She's my friend and nothing else!" Ash barked out as he charged upstairs to get ready to take a shower after May was finished. Pikachu was still downstairs, laughing so hard that he cried. He thought his master's immaturity, and vigorous denial was hilarious.

'The next few days are going to be interesting. That's for sure. And it's about time too,' Pikachu thought, always wondering when his 14 year old partner was going to realize the existence of females in a different way than "just friends" as Ash just described.

May was in the shower, putting shampoo in her hair as she thought about what she had just done.

"What possessed me to do that?" She asked herself out loud. She knew she had a crush on Ash when they first met and throughout their journeys together. Her crush on him diminished slowly as time went by and she realized Ash's density was impenetrable and that she couldn't get through to him in an emotional way, except through battles.

Drew was also a huge factor as well, and she basically gave up on Ash and decided that Drew was for her. So she decided to pursue Drew to Johto and she hoped to get him to like her. When things were just starting to go her way, Drew mysteriously has to leave, and that was a huge blow to May. Then, she felt like she'd never find anybody.

Had those emotions made her do what she did? May didn't understand why, but assumed that even after all that time apart; she still had at least remote beyond friend feelings for Ash. And she had just let them show. How will Ash respond? Will he hate her or will something else happen? Was she making a big deal out of nothing?

'Ugh, things are going to be awkward for a little while,' She thought as she blamed herself for not controlling herself.

Afterthought

So guys, what do you think? I hope I'm not going too fast. I tried to answer a few things in this chapter, well tried anyway…

As for all voting in my poll, keep in mind that I'm NOT going to write the crossover now, but maybe a year or two into the future.

Thank You and I once again apologize for my horrible one-shot. If secretagentbob is reading this- Spare me, Mercy!

Please Review!

See Ya!


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18- For a New Rycinia

As promised, I have chapter 18 ready to go so enjoy! And also check out Squirtles with Socks II is coming soon! (Also, I do not own the names of the generals and I do not own Seth either).

Anthony ran down the street at a sprint as he tried to reach his apartment. The numerous intercoms in every street in Baltov City were alive with anti-government propaganda, accusations against Slavik's regime, and how much better Rycinia would be under Democratic rule.

The voice of Serjei was vibrating through the intercoms and his physical image absorbing all three TV channels in Rycinia. The bald, middle-aged man with a five o'clock shadow sat in the newsroom of Rycinia's most popular propaganda factory. Millions of Rycinians were watching this…Chancellor Slavik would not be happy.

Words of encouragement and accusation were flooding the streets of the capital city, as revolutionaries were literally yanking beggars off the streets, giving them food and an assault rifle. Anthony watched them and decided to stop and ask them a few questions. It would be good to know the situation.

"Comrade, did you get those weapons from the Baltov Weapons Factory and Armory?" Anthony asked the rebel. The rebel turned to him and smiled.

"Yes, we have enough weapons and ammunition to support an army of 50,000 for a month!" The rebel said proudly. Then Anthony noticed something. The rebel was wearing a clean, fresh, and modern Rycinian Army uniform. He was also carrying a G-36c and was wearing a Rycinian Army helmet crooked on his head.

He seemed like a fresh regular Rycinian soldier; expect he was not fighting for the government.

"Soldier, what unit are you with?" Anthony asked, puzzled.

"I am from 4th. Division, 8th Battalion, 2nd. Company. Anything else you'd like to know? Unless of course you're a government spy," the rebel said looking suspiciously at Anthony. Anthony shrugged the look off, and continued.

"Wait, you're saying your entire company committed mutiny against your division commander?" Anthony asked surprised.

"No comrade, our commander is the one who persuaded us to join the rebellion," the former government soldier said proudly.

"Wait, you mean…?" Anthony started to say, before the soldier cut him off.

"That's right, the entire 4th. Division has joined the rebellion! And haven't you heard? The entire 13th. Division has joined the rebellion as well! Rebel numbers are skyrocketing all across Rycinia as we speak. I bet Slavik and his men are feeling pretty nervous right now," the soldier finished with a smug face, looking over back in the direction of the Palace as he spoke.

"Thank you comrade, I will be joining you soon!" Anthony said joyfully as he waved goodbye and walked toward his apartment, which was a lot closer now.

'Wow, the entire 4th. and 13th. Divisions have joined us along with who knows what else! The 4th. and 13th. put together makes 20,000 rebels right there! And the broadcasts have only been going for an hour! I wonder if Serjei knows how successful he is. I mean we were hoping for this kind of turnout but weren't expecting it! What a day!' He thought to himself as he jogged up the stairs to his second-floor apartment.

As he put the key in the door he heard a loud diesel engine of a tank and the sound of boots clapping on the pavement. Then he heard from a rebel: "Its Slavik's men! The Red Guards! Open fire!" Anthony heard the rebel shout as the buzzing and concussions of guns filled the entire city with sound as disorganized rebels fired upon Rycinian Red guards.

Anthony looked back and saw the Red Guard unit retreat behind the Battlemaster Tank. He also saw two dead Red Guards lying in the street and multiple wounded ones on the ground as well, crying out for their comrades. Anthony noticed that many of the Red Guards looked like children, brainwashed at a young age probably.

The tank turned its turret at a 45 degree angle to the right and blasted a tank shell into a soldier and a beggar he was trying to get to join, and then all hell broke loose. Rifles started firing on both sides, the tank kept pouring shells on the rebels at a rapid pace, some Red Guards started throwing hand grenades, and a random beggar threw a Molotov cocktail at the tank before he was mowed down by Red Guard fire.

The tank was on fire as Red Guards were using it as cover as they fired at the rebels. The rebels were using the building corners and a makeshift roadblock with a dirty couch and a piano as cover, and even some were firing out of two-story windows.

When Anthony saw this, he knew that he had to grab his guns and get out here. His initial plan was to link up with Serjei again, although with the chaos, that could change very quickly. He put the key into the door as he scrambled into the room to collect his things.

He first went under his bed and popped open a briefcase that held his Glock. He removed the suppressor and slipped it into his front pants pocket, in case he would need it later, but now, a suppressor wasn't necessary. He then went for his AK mounted on the wall, and swiped the spare magazines as he did for his Glock. He placed the magazines for both guns in his multiple inside shirt pockets and then went into his tiny kitchen.

He grabbed a backpack and stuffed it with ten bottles of water, 6 MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) given to him by the Agency, and cooking supplies for what was left of the room in the backpack. He then proceeded to exit the establishment and decided to take the back alleyways instead of the streets again. This to avoid getting shot more than compromised.

As he walked he started to think about the military situation of the rebellion. Anthony knew that Slavik fields about 40,000 Red Guards at all times and 60,000 reservists. Most of Slavik regular Army is nowhere to be found. They were absent which puzzled Anthony. Apparently, he hadn't heard about the invasion of Lukensho, and that Slavik did that to distract the world media from the rebellion and increase Rycinia's power in territory and oil as well.

Little did he also know that the Army units left behind where the only ones who heard the broadcast and were spurred onto rebellion by ambitious Division commanders, wanting the glory of the one to slit Slavik's throat, and restore peace to this wasteland called Rycinia. They wanted to be heroes, so many rebelled, each commander racing each other to see who can kill Slavik first.

About 120,000 Army troops and 42,000 other rebels were now turned against Slavik. So that means 162,000 combined rebel forces, some trained, some not, were taking on 100,000 elite Red Guards. These Red Guards had sworn a blood oath to Slavik, and it was also said that Slavik's son commanded the Red Guards along with his father and a select few Generals and government officials.

General Hassan controlled 22,000 Red Guards; General Vega commanded 28,000 Red Guards, Seth (Slavik's right hand, and powerful political ally), controlled 30,000 Red Guards, and Andrew Slavik commanded 20,000 Red Guards.

As for vehicles, aircraft, and artillery, it was now nearly split in two by both sides. Also, there were 50,000 loyalist army units in Rycinia, supporting the Red Guards against the rebels, not including the 640,000 invading Lukensho.

Anthony had no clue of the numbers and of the strength of the enemy at this time so it was imperative that he meet back up with Serjei and the traitor army commanders to come up with a strategy, and to learn more about the enemy and the situation.

In Baltov City, General Hassan and Commander Slavik had the task of securing the capital. General Vega and Seth had the task of quelling the rebellion on the countryside and in other cities, towns, and villages in Rycinia.'

Anthony kept moving back towards where Serjei supposedly was when he cut off. Two Red Guards, wearing all black uniforms and armor, with modern-style helmets with gray/black cameo, and a red crescent moon on the forehead area of their helmets. There were packing M8 assault rifles and were blocking Anthony from the end of the alley.

"In the name of Slavik, are you a traitor or a servant of peace?" The Red Guard asked. This one seemed to be older, maybe mid-twenties, judging by his deep voice. Anthony eyes shifted to look for cover and found it. There was a wall extending out of the building to his right, it sat in between him and the guards. So he took his chance.

"I am a servant of peace, and I'm not a traitor….But I don't serve Slavik!" Anthony yelled as he sprinted toward cover while firing his AK at full auto from the hip at the two guardsmen. The guardsman on Anthony's left had his body riddled with 7.62mm rounds and dropped immediately.

The other guardsman fired at Anthony after he made it to the wall extension. Anthony peeked his AK from around the corner and returned fire. The guardsman found his own cover on the other side of the alleyway, behind some trashcans and viewed Anthony's position. The guardsman was on one knee and decided to end this quickly. Anthony was lucky.

Just as the guardsman was about to fire his grenade launcher, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He looked down and saw the end of a blade sticking out of his chest. The owner of the blade retracted the knife out of his body and slit the guard's throat.

"Servant of peace my ass," the owner scuffed as he returned the blade to its holster and the now-dead guardsman dropped. Anthony heard this and peeked around the corner and was relieved by what he saw. A Rycinian- born friend, Serjei.

Serjei was in his palace guard uniform, which was about the same as a regular Army uniform. He smiled at Anthony and Anthony then came from behind his corner. That's when Anthony noticed 6 rebels, some in army uniforms, others wearing rags, approached Serjei from behind.

"Anthony, I thought you were dead. Yes, I'm using you're real name now. Besides, what difference does it make? Also, I should mention that you are going the wrong way," Serjei said.

"What do you mean?" Anthony inquired, looking behind Serjei.

"What I mean is, that part of the city in front of you has already been secured by rebel forces. Behind you are Slavik's and Hassan's men, that's where we are going," Serjei said eagerly. Anthony smiled and shook hands with him. Then he remembered something.

"Have you heard about the 4th. and 13th.? They've joined us! But where are they?" Anthony said.

"Probably being chased by Vega and Seth in the countryside or in another city, but our concern is here in Baltov. We defeated some light Army units in the slums sector of the city and now we are moving to this middle-class area of the city. Although it's not much different than the slums!" Serjei laughed at his own joke. Then, like a bipolar girlfriend, he turned serious immediately afterward.

"It will not be that way when we succeed," Serjei said, looking in the direction of the palace, which was very close.

"So now we fight Hassan and Slavik's Red Guards?" Anthony asked, trying to verify all the information.

"Yes, and you look confused. Don't worry, I'll explained more as we move," Serjei stated as they all started to move in the direction of the palace with thousands of rebels close behind. The sun was setting, this had been a crazy day.

The question is: what would tomorrow bring?

Afterthought

Thanks for reading guys and please review! And look out for Squirtles with Socks II coming out soon! (Unless Jeremy murders me first!) :(

See Ya!


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19- Fall of Dewford Island (Part 3)

Well, the days are counting down for my remaining time as a civilian. On Sept. 6, which is about a month from now, I will be leaving for Air Force Basic Training. When that happens, I leave for San Antonio, Texas for at least two months, and then I go to my Tech School to learn my job. And Intelligence Tech School could be from two months to a freakin' year! The point of telling you this is, when I'm gone, I probably won't be able to write.

That's correct I may not be able to update for almost a year and a half after Sept. 5, and I know all of you are like WWWHHHHAAAAAATTTTTT! But I promise you, that if you can wait for that amount of time and just be patient, I will come back. I promised myself I would finish everything I write. It may be a long time, but I will come back!

Just giving you guys a heads-up, thank you all for your uplifting and helpful reviews! You are all my bros, except if there are any girls here, then those are my ladies...Why am I so weird? Anyways, this oath to you is just as important as my oath to the Constitution of the United States to my standards; I will come back and finish the job! I will be gone for a long time; however, I will finish the job! And I promise to update as much as I can for my remaining time! Thank you all and enjoy this chapter!

(C'mon, you gotta respect me for at least giving you a heads-up! I hate it when writers just leave and don't come back without at least telling you why or ahead of time or something like that, don't you?)

The base was in utter chaos. Civilians were complaining about everything you could think of from living quarters, to food, to their homes. They were either sobbing from shock or going crazy and blaming the government for everything. The native island pokemon were being pushed back towards the Army-Air base from all directions by aggressive Yuktorussian forces.

Disarray ensued into the Karalian ranks as many grunts had trouble reorganizing with their original units. If you had a sky-view from the base, it would look like an ant hill, swarming with ants after a kid messed with their home.

That's what it was, the scattering of military personnel to ready defenses, civilians trying to find safety with the help of MPs, and thousands of wild pokemon, either filing inside the base or surrounding it.

And Yuke artillery shells falling inaccurately around the perimeter, and base SAMs struggling to keep enemy aircraft at bay long enough for the remaining F-18's to be packed with Sidewinders and launched into the air. A Yuke tank battalion had just been demolished a few minutes ago by Karalian rocket artillery units inside the base and, Javelin and AT-4 troopers firing from the guard towers that surrounded the perimeter of the base.

The smoldering Scorpions and Marauders lined from the edge of the forest to about 150 yards from the base. The base itself was surrounded by trees on its east, north, and western sides. The southern side is mount Visca, an old-dead volcano.

Visca provided a natural barrier against weak ground assaults 500 yards from the base. On the east side, the trees are 50 yards from base, from the north, (where 2nd. Squad retreated from) had about 100 yards to forest, and the western side is about 300 yards to forest with grassy clearing separating forest and base on three sides.

Will had set down his wounded pokemon on a hospital bed in the base medical center along with the rest of his squad, minus Jacobs, who had already done so and left to talk to the 4th. platoon leader Lt. Castro, outside the front door of the combat hospital. The medical staff took the pokemon in, thanked the army squad, and 2nd. Squad moved on to their next task, by exiting the medical facility.

As they all jogged out the front door, Jacobs stopped them by putting his hand up with his palm out and then gestured to them to approach him.

"All right guys, here's the deal. I talked with Lt. Castro and he told us to start digging in here in this base with the rest of 6th. Division. He told me that he ran into a Major that said something about a joint Yuke ground/air attack immediately following a barrage of artillery shells from enemy ships.

He said that the attack would probably be in the next hour or so, so we need to get ready. Before you bombard me with questions, let me add that I have no clue how command figured all of that out in a matter of minutes and that I don't care. Maybe they have some magical genie or some expensive computer tells them everything, I DON'T KNOW! Now do you have any questions?" Jacobs finished as he looked around at his squad waiting for the usual stupid question from Charlie, or an argument from Adrian but got nothing.

"Ok, it's settled then, let's go pack the base perimeter with sandbags on the west side with the rest of our platoon," Jacobs finished as the squad moved out towards a sandbag collection area nearby that had a giant pile of sandbags and camouflage netting in the middle of a military housing street.

The squad took some of the contents and moved towards the west side of the base, which was only two blocks away. A minute later, they reached the defensive concrete brick wall that lined around the entire base, except for the entrance, which was just barbed-wire.

They found hundreds of soldiers, pokemon, and even some civilians hauling sandbags and other defensive objects for guard towers on top of the thick walls and an infantry sandbag line, set to ring all around the base on the outside of the walls. The infantry would fire from the sandbags and every 25 yards, there would be an opening for a friendly tank or humvee, and a machinegun nest every 50 yards.

The guard towers would provide additional firepower with a fixed machinegun emplacement and a anti-tank launcher (AT-4) trooper inside the tower as well. The towers themselves were about 25 feet tall to allow for an overhead view and built with concrete and reinforced steel, mainly to allow the structure to take punishment and remain standing.

With all this there were still the wild pokemon outside the walls and sandbags, standing in the spaces between the base and the forest, that wanted to stand and fight out in the open, a brave but poor decision. Also, there were the rocket artillery pieces (about 12 of them) inside the base with their crews, ready to lay down punishment for anything or one that the Karalian infantry calls a strike on.

For air defense, the base had 10 SAMs ringed around the base from behind the walls that popped up from underground to fire and another 6 SAMs sitting on top of base structures that were close to the edges of the besieged base. 24 Navy F-18 Hornets were also sitting in the runways, waiting to take off to handle air; ground, and naval targets. All of that, and the remnants of the 6th. Army Division.

This taking on about 200,000 Yuke infantry (100,000 man force with its own vehicles, artillery, and helicopters, is considered 1 army by global standards.), its support vehicles, artillery, and helicopters, some of which haven't even landed on the island yet. Not including the Yuke naval forces, which were busy attacking a Karalian naval detachment near the island that was about to receive reinforcements within the next day or so.

Will and company (no pun intended) were stacking up sandbags on the outskirts of the base. Adrian and Damien were setting up Adrian's machine-gun nest; Charlie and Aubrey were multi-tasking by lining up sandbags and pleading for the pokemon to retreat inside of the base at the same time. Will looked on in despair as he saw the wild pokemon stand their ground.

'_Some of the pokemon entered the base already but these ones won't. They'll get slaughtered out here…however; I do admire their bravery,' _Will thought as he sighed at the fact that most of those innocent pokemon guarding the base from the outside, pokemon that had never asked for any of this, rather pushed into a fight by a sadistic and relentless enemy, were about to die for a cause that wasn't theirs.

He was saddened at the thought that he couldn't do anything to change their minds, seeing Charlie and Aubrey give up on them and return to their work, but he thought that if the pokemon had chosen that fate and turned down help, so be it.

All of a sudden he heard an explosion as naval artillery shell twenty yards from the squad as the sound was deafening and a crater formed in front of them. Will's ears were ringing and he couldn't hear a thing. All he did was look towards the forest and saw it come alive.

Dozens of Hinds basically appeared out of nowhere over the treetops as the base SAMs went crazy when they detected them. Scorpions and Marauders alike started coming out of the forest and firing volley after volley of shells at the defensive positions. Thousands Yuke infantry advanced as well, doing the typical thing, using the tanks as cover from the small arms fire that erupted from the Karalian ranks.

The poor pokemon caught in the middle were confused. Some turned and ran out of fear, others returned fire. The pokemon formed a line in front of the base and fired all of their attacks simultaneously. It reminded you of how armies in the black powder age would stand in a line in the open and shoot each other at almost point blank range.

As for the pokemon, such was the case here. Pokemon attacks were hurled into the Yuke ranks as a Scorpion exploded from a Fire Blast that hit its fuel tank. A Marauder was stopped in its tracks by a multiple Double-Edges from numerous Arons and used for target practice by a Nidoking that used Horn Drill on it as the tank split in two from the force. The Nidoking sliced right through the medium tank like butter and then gored an unfortunate enemy grunt that happened to be standing behind the tank.

Solarbeams, Hyperbeams, Razor Leafs, Ice Beams, and many other long-range pokemon attacks such as those ripped into the Yuktorussian lines, causing screams from the invaders as some of them dropped from getting hit. A big rock, thrown by a Gollum, squashed a Marauder and its crew flat. The Gollum's child, a Geodude, threw a smaller but still sizable rock that squished an infantryman. Fearows, Pidgeots, a random Charizard, and other flying pokemon were trying to cause as much grief to the Hinds as possible.

This allowed the SAMs and F-18 to focus their fire on the approaching bombers and MIGs that were about to enter the fight. The Karalians took this chance hit the Yuke tanks hard as the guard tower erupted in a volley of AT-4 rounds, Crusader and Paladins firing tank shell after tank shell, and the rocket artillery came alive as they fired 12 inches of metal raining death onto the Yuke ranks. Karalian machineguns opened up on the now exposed infantry and it was a slaughter.

Small arms fire joined the machineguns, along with pokemon attacks that just wouldn't stop. A Yuke Hind tried to enter the base to take out the rocket artillery by dodging SAMs but the Charizard cut it off from the front and toasted it with flamethrower, burning it to a crisp before the attacker could receive tone (or a lock, whatever you wanna call it).

A Magneton fired a Shockwave into a bomber, and it acted like an EPM Pulse, shutting down the bomber completely as it nose-dived and crashed into the side of mount Visca before pilots could eject. F-18s were ravaging the bombers as the SAMs did the same to the MIGs that were supposed to be protecting them.

Then, the unthinkable happened…the Yukes turned and retreated.

The remaining tanks went in reverse back into the forest and the panicked infantry sprinted in behind them. The Hinds decided they had enough and fell back as well, joining the MIGs and battered bombers as well. The smoke cleared in the fields surrounding the forest, revealing the destruction.

Over two thousand Yuke infantrymen lay dead or wounded in the fields with destroyed tanks and craters littering the clearing. The wreckage and destruction was astounding. Complete silence. Aside from the sounds of burning vehicles, and wounded enemies crying out from their comrades, it was just complete silence. No cheers from neither the pokemon, nor the Karalians, just silence. Most just wondering if what just happened was real.

The battle that took just five minutes seemed to have lasted hours. Then a sigh of relief entered the Karalian ranks as they realized something…they had just defeated an enemy who they believed that was unstoppable, even if it was just for the moment, even if they were still surrounded and outnumbered, they felt like they had just accomplished something big.

A loud cheer erupted from the Karalians as the wild pokemon joined them. Will and his squad joined them as well. Will realized something else when he was screaming, the pokemon out in the fields, the very same ones he thought a few minutes ago would be crushed and slaughtered by the Yuke war machine, were still standing after fighting an excellent battle and succeeding with very few casualties. The Karalians had taken almost no casualties during the fight, while the enemy sustained heavy casualties.

It was a victory for Karalia. However, everyone from the commanders to the grunts knew that the attack was just preliminary assault to test the Karalian defenses. The Yuke commanders obviously wanted to know what they were up against. But no one cared. They had won, and that's all that mattered.

Will turned to Adrian, who was yelling in the sky daring the enemy to come back, and said to something to him.

"So, what's your opinion on pokemon now?" Will said triumphantly, using the circumstances to prove Will's point and show Adrian that pokemon were more than pets or nuisances. Adrian's smile faded immediately as he turned to Will for a split second, then turned back towards his previous position and continued yelling. Will smiled and nodded his head in disapproval as he joined in on the shouting and cheering once more.

"For the Republic! For Freedom, Democracy! For Kkaarraalliiaa!" the troops cried proudly, shouting their country's name with their fists in the air. As exhilarating as this moment was, they were NOT done. The enemy would be back. But until then, the Karalians were happy and jubilant. For now.

Afterthought

Enjoy? Anyways, to the reviewer of which I'm sorry I can't remember your name at this time, the Republican Guards are in the place of the Marines in this story. Many things will be the same and difference between the two and I hope you understand how that works. Don't get me wrong, I respect the real-life Marines, hell my dad is a retired one, but I wanted to make my own branch if that's ok with you.

Anyways, yes Dewford Island will have a lot of parts. I don't know how many yet but I will try not to make too many. Also, I hope you understand my leaving in a month, and that I will TRY, repeat TRY, to upload as many chapters as I can before I leave.

So thank you for everything, and Review if you please.

Like A B- Sean


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20- Fist of Slavik

Dude, my head stills hurts from last night! I can't tell you exactly what me and friends did for certain reasons, but let's just say me and my friends (who are all leaving for the military as well) had a little party with Mr. Cuervo, and we all got a little…random…and giggly…and loopy…and I took an air soft bb to the neck.

But that's not important, the important thing is that I'm here and keeping my promise. I hope you guys enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it, and I'm glad so many of you respond and give me words of encouragement. Let me know if I'm being a little rash, but I think I've made at least a few friends on this site.

Speaking of friends, Geckoguy are you doing alright buddy? Do you have a problem with your rewrite or are you on vacation? I'm beginning to get worried about you man, you haven't updated in half a year dude. If there's a problem, maybe I can lend you a hand. If you do, PM me or insert it into your review.

Thank you all for your reviews and I hope you enjoy this chapter! Anyways, I may have good news for you! I say may, because I found out that at my Tech School, there is a 50% chance that I can bring my laptop with me.

If that is true, I would probably use it to study, but if you're lucky, maybe I could squeeze in a chapter or two while I'm there, so don't be surprised if I come back early. Then again, don't be surprised if I don't. Now as promised, I am back to writing.

One more thing, I realized that I don't separate my speech from the story, so I put down a line for you guys! …Yes, I have that now.

* * *

Brock Harrison was studying for a Pokemon medical class he was taking at Pewter University. Exams were next week. He was reading on how pokemon bone injuries could be treated quickly and efficiently.

'_Hmmm…pokemon cartilage is very different from humans as a pokemon's body is more resilient and less "breakable" than a human's. Yeah, judging from what I've seen, that does make sense,"_ Brock said in his head, buried in his textbook. Brock hasn't changed much since leaving Ash in Sinnoh.

He was shocked and stimulated when he saw the news report of the nuclear detonation in Pallet Town. He thought about how crushed Ash must be. He even stopped his studies for the day to watch the news and worry about his hat-wearing friend. After his new cell phone went off and showed Ash's caller ID, Brock was conflicted about whether to pick up or not.

He knew that he was like a big brother to Ash, but this time he didn't have anything wise to say. He thought about how to comfort Ash but couldn't figure out how. He decided that anything he said would just make things worse, mainly because he was exhausted and mentally drained at the time. The classes took a hard toll on Brock.

All of the complexity, the subjects, the rent, food bills, tuition, working part-time at the pokemon center as an assistant, and the list goes on and on. Medicine, aside from science, is one of the most challenging subjects to learn, not to mention qualify for. He was gassed, and started to have doubts.

Then, during the time leading right up to the attack, Brock was stricken with feelings of pessimism and he didn't feel like he could do anything for Ash, so he decided not to answer and to let Ash sort things out himself. And every day since then, he wakes up regretting that decision. It haunts him in the back of his mind, trying to keep himself busy not thinking about it.

He decided that he would call Ash back, probably after the exams and apologize to Ash for not being there for him. Brock had tried to call a few days ago, but no one answered. Then Brock got the vibe that Ash was angry with him.

Little did he know that he called during the fight in the shack in Petalburg City, where Ash, Pikachu, and the Maple family narrowly escaped death at the hands of the Spetsnaz. Ash had not even realized that Brock, Misty, and Dawn had tried to get a hold of him. Ash hasn't even checked his Pokenav for messages at all.

But Brock didn't know that, he thought that Ash either hated him or was at least angry with him. Then, feeling of pessimism returned so he ignored it and continued his studies, reasoning that he should try again later.

After an hour of studying, Brock was exhausted as usual and decided to flip on the news. He wanted to find out what was going on with the world and his country, and the events back west, since they were the talk of the world right now.

He turned on a news channel as a middle-aged man with an obnoxious British accent (No, not Piers Morgan…I know what you're thinking) was sitting in the anchor position in the newsroom with a stack of papers he was shuffling in his hand.

"The bill's votes in the Senate have been cast, and the tally has yet to be discovered, but the general public should be informed by the end of the month," the man finished his first report as he shuffled the papers again and dropped them on his desk.

"Also, Dewford Island continues to be outnumbered and surrounded by enemy forces and all hope seems lost. General Bradley Crawford is reassuring the press that he has not abandoned the servicemen and women, pokemon, or civilians on the island, and promises that reinforcements will arrive. However, we do not know what the general's real plans are and how he is going to do so. As for anybody who has friends or family on the island, just pray that General Crawford knows what he is doing," he paused after his second report.

Then someone off-camera approached him with new papers and the anchor inspected them. He began reading and suddenly his eyes grew wide in shock. The person whispered that he needs to report that entire statement now, so the anchor nodded 'yes' and the messenger left the shot as before.

"News Red Alert! Our defensive line is Rustboro City has been broken! The Yuktorussians have seized the city indefinitely and our troops are too weak and undermanned to counter-strike! Our troops are forced to withdraw while being pushed back all the while. The enemy punched numerous holes in our line and our defenses were compromised by a lightning-strike attack by the enemy.

The Yuktorussians have penetrated ten miles passed the city and receive a real foothold in Hoenn. According to certain sources the enemy can now land reinforcements twice as fast, now that they've been able to stretch their lines. This is a bit of unfortunate news, and we now pray that our armed forces can regroup and push back the invaders! This is all the information on the subject now, we will keep you updated," the anchor finished catching his breath.

"In international news, we have been told that the Lukensho capital city, Nezcore, fell to Rycinian forces 20 minutes ago and that the Rycinians have seized 95% percent of the small nation already, including its oil reserves and will proceed to complete their invasion tomorrow.

World Federation members are a little concerned of Rycinia's recent aggression towards its sister nation and is also concerned about the volatile state of which the nation is in. A crumbling economy, a supposed revolt and now an invasion cloud the country in mystery as World Federation members are now suspicious of Chancellor Randall Slavik's true intentions and agendas. Top Rycinian officials are still denying reports of a rebellion in the land-locked nation.

That is all we have tonight for channel 4 news, we'll keep you posted," the anchor finished as the camera faded out.

The edition ended as Brock turned off the TV and headed off to bed.

"_The world is crazy now! And I thought things were crazy before," _Brock thought as he left the room to change.

"_Damn I have class tomorrow. Then again, when don't I?"_

Baltov City, Rycinia- 2100 hours

It was late at night, and the sun had dropped below the horizon. The rebels have camped for tonight. 42% of the capital city was under rebel control, a direct insult to Slavik and his regime. The rebels had to push to the other side of the city to reach the square and the palace, which was their ultimate goal. But not tonight.

Anthony Ketchum was sitting by the fire with his hands outreached to the flame as light snowfall fell from the clouds. It was nearing Christmas time and the world was in tatters. He looked over to Serjei, who was the only one besides him who was still awake around the fire. In fact, most rebels were asleep, except for them and the night sentries.

He wanted to ask Serjei a question, something that made Rycinia different from other countries.

"Comrade, where all the pokemon in Rycinia? In all my 14 years in this country, I have not seen one pokemon…ever! Why is that?" Anthony asked curiously. Serjei shook his head and looked at Anthony sadly.

"22 years ago today, Slavik made a decree that all pokemon were potential traitors to the nation and that pokemon were nothing but "backstabbers waiting to happen" as he put it. So Slavik organized some army troops and Red Guards and put together a tank division…and…well he basically committed genocide or ethnic cleansing as they say. He hunted down all the pokemon he could find and killed them. Anyone who got in his way was immediately executed.

Of course, some pokemon fought back, but it was no use. It was a slaughter. 5 million pokemon were taken from this earth prematurely by this madman and the World Federation still has no idea that the event ever existed. They say a group, maybe 6 thousand, survived the cleansing and retreated to the mountains in the far north borders, and that the pokemon are in hiding there.

However, that is just a crazy rumor," Serjei finished, taking a sip of his coffee. He licked his lips and stared Anthony straight in the eyes.

"That event turned me from a brainwashed, loyal, Army soldier for an insane dictator, into a rebel that hungers for democracy. You Karalians have it good, minus the Yuktorussian invasion. You have democracy…I want what you have. Your leaders are not corrupt like ours. Your leaders actually give a rat's ass about their citizens. Hell, if I could move to Karalia, I would," Serjei said.

"Then why don't you?" Anthony inquired.

"Because for one, you can't leave Rycinia," he laughed at that as he paused for a second and became more solemn.

"But more importantly, I feel I have an obligation to these people. People who have been lied to, even when the truth is in front of them every day, happening to them. It's gotten to a point where they don't ask about why that guy in the street got shot by a soldier anymore. They just step over his body now," Serjei answered, rambling.

"So if you where just a palace guard, how did you know about any of this, considering Slavik is a really good liar?" Anthony asked.

"Well, I wasn't a palace guard back then. I knew about what was going on because I participated in the purge. I was with the 8th. Division. It was horrible. I was a young 14 year-old kid, a fresh recruit and I had never killed anything before. There was this family of Squirtle that lived in the countryside, in a pond near a hill.

I remember the day clearly; my unit was just on patrol. We had run a crossed a family of Squirtle, and me being the newest and youngest recruit, the squad leader had ordered me to shoot them all, mainly a, "becoming one of us" sort of thing. There were 4 Squirtle.

I approached the parents and I shot both of them from a distance because I didn't want to get close. Then my Squad leader called me a coward and ordered me put physically put the barrel to their heads and execute them at point-blank range.

At first I refused, but the squad leader didn't like that. He pulled out a handgun and put it to my head. He told me to do it to the Squirtle, or he was going to do it to me. I was a kid, scared for my life. I didn't know what I was doing.

But I can remember…when I put the barrel of my AK to the baby Squirtle's forehead, it stared into my eyes. I can see the sadness of the poor pokemon. I had just murdered its parents and its sibling and it was next. I couldn't take it. It just kept staring at me with its forlorn eyes," Serjei continued his monologue as tears formed in his eyes.

"Then it started to cry and scream, it was tearing me apart from the inside. But I didn't want my squad leader to know that or he'd kill me. So I did what I regretted for the rest of my life, I pulled the trigger," Serjei finished, his head down and tears falling to the pavement below.

Anthony looked at him, realizing what happened to this country, and almost wished he hadn't asked.

"We better get some sleep if we wanna slit Slavik's throat tomorrow," Anthony concluded, his mind still on the story.

"Yes, we need rest," Serjei replied mindlessly.

Baltov City, Rycinia- 0700 hours

The sun rose over the horizon and the numerous buildings of the split city. Many rebel troops were waking up and preparing for their assault to take the rest of the capital. Rumors mentioned that General Hassan's Red Guards were going attack them within the next ten minutes.

The rebels scrambled for their gear and readied themselves for an attack. Serjei was ordering the rebels as he walked around their urban campsites.

"Stay vigilant boys, the Guards are coming and we're gonna show them that they are NOT unstoppable. C'mon boys, let's go!" Serjei instructed, trying to pump some fiery passion into those rebels' souls. Anthony approached him and looked around nervously at the scene.

"What's coming Serjei, is it something big?" Anthony asked, his mouth running like a motor, probably from anxiety or anticipation.

"Hassan's throwing everything he's got at us. 30,000 Red Guards, 4 fighter squadrons, and a tank battalion. Now we have our own fighters to counter theirs, some old SU-27 Flankers, and even a few of the new SU-37's, I don't remember what those are called though. But all of our armor is in the countryside, so I'm having our men bring up every anti-tank weapon we have, to counter the armor.

Also, APC's (Armored Personnel Carrier) are going to be a problem as well, we have already laid some anti-vehicle and anti-personnel mines all over the streets about a block in front of us. Well, that's about it," Serjei answered.

A rebel laying down mines a block ahead looked up the road and turned back towards the rebels:

"They're here! They're here!" The rebel called out as Anthony started hearing diesel engines and shouts in Rycinian both down the road, and within rebel ranks. He looked in the direction of the commotion and saw what he expected to see: thousands of pro-government Red Guards parading down the road with Battlemasters leading the formation.

"Well, here goes nothing," Anthony sighed as he racked his AK, putting the lead round into the chamber.

The lead Battlemaster exploded as it hit a tank mine. Rycinian SU's began to duel overhead in the skies. The Red Guards behind the destroyed tank jogged around it and were met by machine-gun fire. The Battlemasters in the other roads were also getting hit by tank mines, and were bottling up the roads and the Red Guards and fellow Battlemaster's mobility was greatly hindered.

Then the tanks just drove over their destroyed counterparts and continued on, the Red Guards behind. Then the rocket launchers came, mostly outdated RPG's and a few other AT launchers. One tank took one in its underbelly as it was climbing over its destroyed comrade. It exploded immediately and the tanks behind it had to find another road to enter.

The others advanced towards the rebel lines blocking murderous machine-gun fire from the Guardsmen. The Battlemasters returned fire, blowing up sandbag machine-gun emplacements and buildings in which RPG fire was coming from.

Then, a rebel SU swooped out of the sky and fired a missile, which rammed onto the top of a Battlemaster and it exploded, and the entire tank launched into the air, doing a back-flip, and landed on a second Battlemaster behind it, the weight of the original crushing its comrade.

Then a hail of RPG fire erupted once again from the buildings surrounding the little intersection they were fighting in. Several Battlemasters were hit and the Rycinians' armored firepower was diminishing swiftly.

Anthony fired his AK when he saw a squad of Red Guards running in a line trying to flank the rebels by entering the buildings. The Karalian spy mowed down all 5 of them in quick succession as other Guards tried the same thing everywhere. Other Red Guards stayed in the street, finding whatever cover they could to distract the rebels and keep the attention focused on them rather than at the flanking Red Guards taking over the surrounding buildings.

However, Serjei was not that stupid. He had rebel squads leave the main line to protect those RPG troopers in those very buildings that were giving hell to the Battlemasters. From, behind the sandbag barrier that both Serjei and Anthony were behind, the both of them opened fire on the Guards and Serjei ordered the machine-gunners to suppress the enemy.

After that was done, the Red Guards were going to get a surprise. The Rebels in the street all pulled the pins on hand grenades simultaneously and tossed them over the enemy lines. The Guards were caught off guard (He He) and watched and hundreds of hand grenades fell on their lines, and a giant chain-reaction explosion occurred in the Guard ranks.

Whatever Guards tried to run or expose themselves to throw back the grenades were cut down by machine-gun fire immediately. The ones who didn't move were blown up by grenades.

Those 20 seconds wiped out an amazing one-thousand Red Guards. The Battlemasters continued to get mulched by RPG fire as those rebels were protected from infantry by other rebels. The Battlemasters were frantically firing tank shell after shell, most shots missing or hitting things unimportant.

The Red Guards inside the buildings were being harassed by rebels, claymores and other booby-traps as they soon found out that they didn't have the numbers to take the buildings and they fell back and retreated.

What was left of the Battlemasters went in reverse, and the Red Guards fell back in a disorganized frenzy. They had been beaten. But then the thousands of rebels did something very stupid. They chased the defeated guards.

Serjei knew an old Rycinian trick was to make the enemy think they've won when in reality a trap was being laid behind Rycinian lines. Serjei yelled at the men to stop but it was too late. His entire force was charging at the Guards, assault rifles blaring.

"Dammit! Stop you idiots! Don't you see it's a trap!" Serjei screamed but most rebels couldn't hear him as they continued on.

"Now what?" Anthony asked.

"Shhhiittt!" Serjei screamed in vain as he got up and charged with his men, Anthony following behind. Some guards would stop and try to slow down the rebels but the rebels would cut them down immediately and continue on. The guards were giving up ground…too much ground.

They continued pushing towards the palace too rapidly for Serjei taste, his plan was to wear down the guards and slowly push them back. The rebels massacred any guards that didn't run fast enough, or were exposed. One rebel clicked his G-36 to full-auto and slaughtered an entire team of 12 retreating Red Guards, emptying his magazine.

For the rebels it looked like a rout. They had thought that they had won, but when they reached the square in front of the palace, they realized that they have been gravely mistaken. It was a ruse, the trick worked. All of the rebels were now sucked into the square, out in the open surrounded by a Commander's heaven of defensive positions.

Thousands of Hassan's remaining guards were standing directly across from the rebels in the square, and Andrew Slavik's men had set up defensive positions and sandbag barriers everywhere. The rebels charged at Hassan's men, but the guards, including Hassan himself, did not retreat.

Hassan had tan skin and looked to be of middle-eastern descent in our world. Apparently Hassan didn't mind sacrificing a few thousands men to destroy the rebels outright.

Andrew Slavik, who was there as well, ordered his guards to fire at the rebels, and the momentary silence erupted in chaos. Bullets covered the square, Hassan's men and rebels alike were getting slaughtered by each other. The Rebels, even though having a numerical advantage, faced a serious tactical disadvantage here. And Drew knew it.

He watch in amusement with a happy smirk on his face as rebels started dropping by the thousands, and even though Hassan was losing a lot of men as well, Drew knew that he still had a reserve of 20,000 Red Guards and 35,000 regular troops ready to go. Next, he ordered some 125 APC's with fixed machine-guns on the tops of them to deploy onto the plaza and release the last of Hassan's forces.

This would hurt the rebels even more, and when the time was right, he would order his own men to finish off the rebels. He was standing high in the palace looking down, standing next to his father, the Rycinian Chancellor, both watching the carnage below.

"Very good, I'm impressed. Now destroy them," the Chancellor praised and ordered his son.

Yes father, immediately," Drew responded with a heartless and unforgiving tone.

Down in the plaza, hand to hand fighting had broken out between Hassan's and Serjei's men. The APC's were getting taken out by the rebel RPG troopers that fell behind during the charge.

Anthony rifle butted a guardsman and saw Hassan staring right back at him, right in the open, across from each other. Hassan lifted his G-36 at Anthony and took aim.

Click…Click…empty.

Anthony did the same and took aim.

Click…Click…empty.

Hassan then pulled out a foreign-made fighting knife, as Anthony pulled out his own K-Bar fighting knife. The two charged at each other and Hassan tackled Anthony to the ground.

Hassan tried to stab him in the chest but Anthony used an old move he learned in the Agency. He actually grabbed the knife and pulled it closer to his chest, as he did this, Hassan's head became closer as well.

Anthony head butted Hassan and kept a tight grip on the knife. The force of the head butt knocked Hassan back and separated him from his knife. Hassan was now standing up, regaining his balance as Anthony was getting up with a knife in each hand.

He threw the one in his right hand like a dart while he was on his knees, still getting up, and knife plunged into Hassan's left shoulder, making him cry out in pain as Hassan yanked it out and came at Anthony again.

Anthony then dodged a knife swipe at his head and rammed his K-Bar into Hassan's gut.

"Uumph," Hassan grunted as the knife pieced his gut. Anthony retracted it and stabbed Hassan the throat as blood seeped onto Anthony's hands. The knife pierced the jugular head-on, and General Hassan dropped dead when Anthony pulled out the knife.

Anthony looked around and saw that the rebels where almost all dead or retreating and the Red Guards were already capturing prisoners. Anthony didn't see Serjei either. Then he realized that he was all alone in the square. Just him and thousands of the dreaded Red Guards.

"Drop the K-Bar rebel!" A yell came from a young guard behind Anthony as a rifle barrel was rammed into his back. Anthony cursed and dropped his K-Bar and turned around with his hands up. He saw a young guard and four taller guards two flanking him on each side.

"It's over, you will be punished for your treason," The young guard said as he slightly dipped his head in Anthony's direction, as if giving a silent command, while looking at the two guards on the right. They then approached Anthony from behind and put his arms down and cuffed them from behind.

Anthony looked at the young guard's face and was astonished…it was the green-haired kid he bumped into in the slums a day ago! He had no idea that the kid was a commander. Anthony thought about the stories of Rycinian prisons and torture methods. Then, he realized that he would probably be tortured and killed.

His eyes opened in realization and shock as he stared into the face of Andrew Slavik.

* * *

**Afterthought**

Well, I hope you all enjoyed that and Review if you want! Also, as for Brock's last name I just googled it and that what most people said. Tell me what you think of the story and how its playing out!

**Random comment of the chapter: Epic Rap Battles of History!**

See ya! :)


	21. Chapter 21

Old Faces, New Decisions

Well, I just got done reading and reviewing a lot of stories and now I believe that I'm ready to kick out 21! Anyways, thank you guys for your comments, you are all awesome! And I hope you can give me feedback on what I'm doing right or wrong (I still have room to grow, right?) So if you can do that, that's cool, but if you can't, it's no big deal, just PM me later or something.

Anyways, this chapter will feature some of Ash's friends who ( by my flaws) have received no air time in my story and I just wanted you guys to understand that I have a place for all of them in this project, so enjoy and I hope you like what I come up with.

Enough blabbing! On with the story!

* * *

Misty Waterflower was in the Cerulean Gym just wiping the sweat from her head as she had just finished off a trainer looking for a badge (Yes, the league is still open in Kanto) and she sat down on a bench near a running fan to cool herself down.

She was thinking about taking a dive into the gigantic pool that was right on the battlefield. Then again, she had to think a lot for the past few weeks. She was stunned when she found out that Ash's hometown had been wiped off the map. She felt sorry for her old friend, and tried to imagine what he must be going through.

She had tried to call him but Ash never picked up. Misty figured that he just had to work things out himself and that Ash will talk when he's ready to talk. She was actually traumatized by the event.

But not just the fact of Tracey, Professor Oak, Ash's mom Delia, or all of the others that had just been vaporized, she was traumatized because she had actually seen the missile hit.

_The redhead was on her way to Pallet Town to visit her old friend that had just finished 4__th__. in the Sinnoh League. Delia Ketchum had invited her, along with many of Ash's other old friends to the yearly party thrown for Ash every time he completes a league. She reached the top of an extremely tall hill about 20 miles from the town. _

_Misty could see the little town as a speck from the top of the hill. It looked beautiful. Such a peaceful little town. Misty looked at her new watch and saw that she was really early and that the party wouldn't even start til tomorrow. She sat down and rested herself against a giant tree that was behind her after she looked up at it to check it for bug pokemon. _

_Once she was convinced that there were no dreaded bug pokemon in the tree, she pulled a plastic-wrapped sandwich out of her backpack and munched on her snack. She looked out to Pallet Town in awe. She observed the green landscape filled with pokemon and the small town in the middle of nowhere._

_It was when she was admiring the blue skies and flying pokemon she noticed something strange. _

_A trail of smoke was approaching the town from the sky at mach 3. The lowest part of the smoke trial was the object that was glowing bright yellow and descending at an alarming pace._

"_What is that?" Misty said to herself, clueless as to what was about to happen next. She got up and walked out from the tree with Viridian City at her back._

_The object dropped into the middle of the town and appeared to make contact. _

_Then…_**BOOOOOOOM**!

_The sheer force of the blast blew a powerful gust of wind at Misty as she shielded her eyes from the flash that the small nuke gave off. The wind actually blew Misty off the side of the hill and fell a few feet from where she was standing, behind the hill. _

_She screamed at she managed to grab onto a rock that prevented her from falling down the far-side of the hill, the side (luckily for her) was on the Viridian side. She covered her ears until the ordeal was over, still prone on the far side of the hill. _

_When the blast appeared to be over, she got up and looked over the side of the hill. And she wished that she had never done that. Where Pallet Town used to be, laid a black, deep, crater in its place. From a ten mile radius all around, there was nothing but destruction. The ten mile blast radius literally was charred black and barren from the unexpected blast. _

_Misty screamed and tears filled her cheeks as she panicked and ran into Viridian City behind her. Things were not much better there. She watched as people were in a frenzy, everybody panicking and calling the authorities. _

_Some were crying, some were in awe, and some started evacuating, others were yelling to their friends about the "Mushroom Cloud" and everything and everyone was in disarray._

_Misty was breaking when Karalian government agents and soldiers in HAZMAT suits filled the city in under 20 minutes, most dropping in by helicopter from a air base on top of Mount Silver. _

_She frantically called Ash here on her first attempt to figure out if her friend was okay. No response, that just made her freak out even more at the time._

_Even though, five days later she found out that Ash had to be alive because the phone rang and didn't go straight to answering machine. If Ash was in the blast, the phone would be vaporized and the phone would go straight to answering machine but it didn't. So that convinced Misty that Ash had to still be alive and that's when she called again, and still received no answer. _

_But right now she didn't know that. She thought her friend was dead. She sat there in the middle of the street crying until a soldier in a HAZMAT suit picked her up and ushered her into a temporary decontamination center where they checked her for radiation. Surprisingly, she had no trace of nuclear fallout on her, considering how close she was to the blast itself._

_The government suggested a full evacuation of Viridian City because it was in range of the nuclear fallout. In about an hour, everyone government employees to civilians, including Misty, had left Viridian City abandoned. Most refugees headed towards Pewter City. _

_Misty went to the Pewter Gym to talk to Brock but his parents answered the door and hold her that he was staying on the campus of the college there. She thought about running over there to see him, but looking at all the refugees packing into the city, she decided that it was no use. So against her will to talk to her old pokemon breeding friend, she hightailed it home, confused and frightened._

Ever since then, she continued to be saddened by the people lost in the attack, and continued to worry about the effects that the attack may have had on her friends. When she heard about the war, she was first scared, and then grew angry. She was furious at the Yuktorussians for what they did to her, her friends, and not to mention the country.

She was going to turn 17 in two weeks and once she did, she was going to ask her sisters (since they where her guardians) to consent to signing Misty up for the Navy. She would need her guardians' consent since she wasn't 18 yet. Misty had been around water her whole life and dedicated her life to catching water pokemon.

'It's about time to put that to good use,' she thought to herself as she considered a career in the military, provided that her sisters would also consent to taking over the gym. It was obvious why she wanted to join the Navy and she wondered whether she wanted to be on a submarine or a destroyer. Either one would suit her, and it'll also give her a chance for revenge.

Somewhere in Sinnoh- 1200 hours

Gary Oak had just been studying some Gliscor in the field and was continuing his daily work. He was writing on his clipboard about how Gliscor liked certain types of berries, and his face was sweating as it was unusually hot today. The brunette researcher was wearing a lab coat in the heat and it was starting to get to him.

'Damn, lab coat…was a bad choice!' He thought to himself as he wiped some sweat from his brow. Ever since his grandfather had died, Gary promised himself that he would:

1: Continue his grandfather's work in his honor.

2: Get revenge on the foreign aggressors that caused the death of what was left of his family and plunged his nation into war.

Gary was only 14 and he has been watching the news more often, when he wasn't working. The reason being was because of the enlistment bill that was going through the Senate. He wanted that bill to pass so he could join the Army immediately.

He decided that infantry and artillery weren't for him, so if he was gonna join it'd probably be armored or helicopters. He thought a lot about this during his spare time. He promised himself and his late grandfather that after he was done with the Army, he would come back and finish the good professor's work.

He stayed up every night watching the news, hoping that the bill would pass, cause if it didn't, he wouldn't be able to serve for almost 4 years! That irked Gary, because he wanted to serve now. He has grown much more mature over the years, mostly after the attack sped up his maturing process.

He was ready.

He wanted to go now!

But he can't yet, not until the bill gets passed.

Once it passes, he's going to haul ass to the nearest recruiting station and get started.

After watching the news, this whole ordeal turned him from a former Liberal, (most pokemon researchers were) into a hardcore Republican. He swore to himself that if the bill didn't pass, he was going to sock the nearest Democrat in the face.

He even switched his political status to get his revenge, even though he was still too young to vote, though the enlistment bill may change that. And his behavior was understandable. The last of his immediate family was wiped out.

His parents, Collin and Anna Oak, had died when he was six. They were going to vacation in Southwest Yuktorussia when their jet airliner supposedly crashed into either the ocean or the coastline, Gary couldn't remember. It was so long ago.

He was convinced that they were dead, after seeing the story on the news. But something didn't seem right. It was a coincidence that Yuktorussia was his parents' destination and now in the future, Karalia is at war with them.

Or was it a coincidence? Somehow Gary couldn't shake the feeling that his parents were somehow still alive. But he shrugged it off as a wishful thinking type fantasy, ands continued his work.

In the future he was going to see how close his theory really was…

Mauville City- 1000 hours

It was morning. Caroline was in the kitchen cooking up some eggs, bacon and pancakes. Her husband was sitting at the table, looking at job listings in the _Mauville Shocker_, the city's newspaper, named after the gym leader Wattson.

"Hmmm…a jet airline mechanic in this town makes $14.50 an hour. It's a far cry from a gym leader's salary but that might be enough to help us get by…what'd think hun?" Norman asked his wife, who had just put the bacon on a pan. She didn't get a chance to answer.

The bacon started to sizzle and the aroma was enough to reach and awaken the others upstairs. The delicious smell of food shocked May, Max, Ash, and Pikachu awake as they all charged down the stairs at full bore.

Ash tripped over Max, and fell flat on his face. Max accidentally grabbed May's leg with his arm as he started to fall, and she fell forward as well, squeezing out an 'Ack!' And Pikachu was flung off of Ash's shoulder doing a side flip in the air with its eyes as wide as a fat guy, screaming 'Piiiiiiiii!'

The adults turned around and saw the group all sprawled out on their backs and stomachs on the stairs, except for Pikachu. Pikachu was lucky enough to land on the soft surface of May's face. Pikachu was just standing on top of her face confused.

'Where'd everybody go?' The yellow mouse thought as it gazed down and realized what just happened. Ash and Max got up and started rubbing their heads and groaning in pain. May had the worst view ever as she opened her eyes and saw a furry yellow butt staring back at her face.

"Get off!" May yelled forcefully as Pikachu panicked and let out a little fart as he jumped off May's face.

"EEEWWW!" May shouted as she shot up and pushed Pikachu further away from her. She scooted into the corner with her face beet-red as she started forcefully coughing. The fart itself was short but loud enough for Ash and Max to hear it.

"THAT WAS-(laughing) RANDOM!" Ash choked out between giggles as he and Max started laughing so hard, their faces turned beet-red and Ash started tearing up. Max pointed at Ash's face and made him laugh even more. Pikachu realized what he just did and started feeling remorseful.

"That's SO GROSS! Was that really necessary Pikachu?" She yelled at the now-nervous little mouse. Pikachu expressed its regret as he nervously scratched the back of his head with a sweatdrop running down the side of his face to match.

Norman and Caroline looked at each other, turned back and said simultaneously:

"Did we miss something?"

After a few minutes and some calmed nerves...and May applying perfume, they finished changing and washing-up upstairs and came down for breakfast much slower this time.

The group came down in their usual attire, May rocking her Emerald outfit, and they all sat down as a plate of eggs, bacon and pancakes were placed in front of them, still steaming hot. They all dug in and started making their breakfast disappear.

Norman got up and started to go upstairs.

"What are you doing honey?" Caroline asked her husband. He turned and smiled at her.

"I've got a boatload of job interviews today! I've got to get my suit and tie if I still have it. Wish me luck!" Norman said as he continued up the stairs to prepare for his busy day ahead of him.

When he got upstairs and into the master bedroom he picked up the list of job interviews on his desk and whistled.

"18 job interviews. This is gonna be a long day," He said to nobody in particular as he put down the list and opened the closet to retrieve his suit and tie.

Back down stairs the rest of the residents had just finished breakfast and thanked Caroline for the delicious meal that Ash and May devoured in record time. Max turned on the TV and saw a commercial for the military. All of them, excluding Caroline, (she had to get ready for job interviews as well) were sitting on the brown couch facing the TV.

The commercial showed what looked like a Karalian soldier doing push-ups with an instructor wearing a saucer-shaped hat yelling at him. Then it showed the same guy with the same uniform, except green and he was wearing cameo makeup on his face it showed him and his comrades rappelling down a transport helicopter and in another scene jumping out of a cargo plane.

A speaker was talking and epic music (the song from the American campaign in C&C Generals) was playing in the background while these actions were being carried out.

"We are at war. It will take a new breed of soldier to complete the mission. A new breed of soldier to do what most would say is impossible," as that was said, a river was shown with nothing on it.

Then an entire squad poked their heads up from under the water and shows them advancing out of the water to the shore, weapons drawn. It showed the illusion of these men being invisible.

"A courageous and brave soul. He fights for peace and justice. Unlike most, he runs toward the fight, not away from it. He defends his nation with his life. He will never quit. He can be your best friend, or your worst enemy," As this was said it showed a soldier carrying a wounded civilian to a transport helicopter and then runs back to where he came from.

Next, it showed one firing a 50 cal. Machine gun from the turret of a Humvee. Next came a clear field that appeared to be empty. Next, 4 of them wearing gullie suits popped out of the ground from what appeared to be nowhere, and started advancing.

"The world's most elite troops and to be one of the most feared fighting forces the world has ever seen. These peacekeepers are always on the alert, ready to lay down their lives for their nation. These men are patriots. The road is hard and the journey is long. The training is intense. But the question remains…"

It shows the back of a cargo planes open up and you see dozens of men jump out the back of the aircraft. Next, you see a squad retrieve a downed fighter pilot. Then, you see one emerge from a jungle and run up to what looked like a compound. The soldier then sticks a C4 charge to the building in front of him and the rest of his squad showed up and pass him, the squad leader giving signals to the others.

"Do you have what it takes?" The speaker finished as three words filled the entire screen for a few seconds.

**Honor**

**Commitment**

**Sacrifice**

After that other words replaced those 3.

**Republican Guard Divisions**

**See a recruiter today. **

The commercial ended and the network continued its regularly scheduled show. All of the viewers back in the Maple home (if you can call it that) were a little confused.

"Wow, I don't know who those guys were, but they sure looked cool. Right Ash?" Max said, looking at Ash who had a thousand yard stare at the TV.

"Yeah," was all he replied. Max looked at him worryingly.

"Are you okay Ash. You seem a little…"

"I'm fine…I'm good," Ash said, finally snapping himself from his trance.

"Hey Ash, what do you say we check out the city today! You know just walk around," May said excitedly. Ash turned to her and smiled.

"Yeah that sounds cool," Ash said as he stood up and let Pikachu run up on his shoulder.

They all got up and went out the door into the city. Shops where everywhere and the city was bustling today. It was a hot day today, and the trio (including Pikachu) were already noticing themselves starting to sweat.

"Uhg, this humidity is crazy! I know let's go get some ice cream!" May yelled excitedly as she pointed at an ice cream parlor across the street.

Soon they were all sitting inside the air-conditioned parlor licking up their ice cream cones…except for Max.

"Come on! Why is mine taking so long!" Max said furiously.

The cashier then said in an "I hate my job" tone:

"Number 65, your order is ready," He said and then sighed. He would remind you of the attitude of Squidward from SpongeBob Squarepants on our world.

"Yes, finally!" Max said as he left the table to retrieve his pre-paid ice cream.

Pikachu looked at Ash with an evil smile. Ash saw this and got nervous.

'What is he thinking?' Ash thought. Pikachu then left the table to leave Ash alone with May, but not before teasing Ash one last time by sticking his tongue out. Pikachu retreated to an empty table and took the bottle of ketchup sitting on it and started enjoying, watching the two teens from a far.

It was an awkward silence. The two friends still had the memory of last night fresh in their heads.

"So…." Ash began, looking around nervously.

"Yeah?" May replied, obviously getting nervous as well.

"About last night…" Ash started.

"What about last night?" May said, her heart pounding faster than before.

"About the…" Ash stuttered.

"About the what?" May asked quickly, it was clear that she was getting uneasy at this point.

'What am I doing? I sound like a freakin' idiot!' Ash thought to himself. He wanted to talk to her about the kiss last night and the meaning behind it, but couldn't spit it out.

'Okay, I'll just say it,' Ash thought . This was Ash's ultimatum.

May was on edge, she didn't know what to expect or how to handle it, but for some reason she wanted him to continue.

"The ki—"

"Hey guys, did you know that they served Pistachio here? I mean what's up that? Right?" Max interrupted as Ash and May looked at Max with annoyed faces.

"No one likes Pistachio, so why sell it? I mean, that's ridiculous," Max continued on as he sat down next to May and starting munching on his mint flavored ice cream.

'Now I think I understand why May is so annoyed with him all the time! I was just going to let it out too! Oh well, it'll have to wait…' Ash thought, frustrated.

'I'm going to commit a murder today,' May exaggerated in her head, glaring at Max.

'Now I'll never know what he was going to say!' May thought, equally as frustrated as Ash. Neither of them dared let their frustration show.

"So…what were you talking about Ash?" May said with a hint of uneasiness in her voice.

"Nothing important, I'll tell you later," Ash said with a bit of disgust in his voice.

"I say we explore the rest of the city when we're finished. What'd ya say guys?" Max said, oblivious to the conversation he interrupted.

"Yeah, that sounds good," May replied with a fake smile as she dug into what was left of her ice cream.

* * *

**Afterthought**

Well, I'm not too proud of this chapter (can someone say "filler") but it was informative I guess. Anyways, I hope you didn't think that my commercial was too cheesy, but there's a little foreshadowing for ya.

The Republican Guards are starting to recruit that's good right? Give me your thoughts, good or bad and the next chapter will contain the situation in Dewford Island! Part 4 is coming up!

Honestly, I am not proud of this chapter one bit, but you can still comment if you want!

See Ya!


	22. Chapter 22

Fall of Dewford Island- (Part 4)

Well guys, I'm happy to present you with chapter 22 of my main story. :)

This just might be my last upload, so if it is, I may go dark for a few months or longer, but you'll just have to bear with me. Before I go, I'm going to be hanging out with my friends and family, preparing for BMT and setting up Skype and USAA accounts so I'll be very busy for the time leading up too. So I'm gonna give you one last chappie before I'm out!

This chapter will feature the actual fall of Dewford Island and the Rise of Yuktorussian power in Karalia. I know all of you want to know what happened to Anthony, don't worry, I'll hit there too. As for Ash and the gang, and the enlistment bill, you'll just have to wait, only so much you can cram into a chapter!

Let's move!

It had been two days since their victory. The rain continued to fall from the semi-dark gray skies. It had been like this since last night…it was almost noon now and the sun was nowhere to be found. A little light managed to seep through the clouds, but certainly not enough.

Everybody, wild pokemon included, was drenched. Puddles of rain water were abundant around the Army/Air Base and its perimeter. Even the raincoats that the military personnel put over their uniforms weren't enough to keep them or the civilians dry.

Though most civilians and injured and scared pokemon were sent into every available building on the base, there simply wasn't enough room and some more arrogant civilians and pokemon decided to brave the rain outside instead.

SSgt. Damien Jacobs was on post behind some sandbags inside the base because the soldiers guarding the sandbags outside on the perimeter took shifts with these troops. 2nd. Battalion (2nd. Squad's Battalion) and 4th. Battalion was assigned to guard the inside, near the defensive walls today, and 1st. and 3rd. Battalions were to guard the outside of the perimeter.

Those insane wild pokemon outside the base still insisted on camping out in the middle of the clearings, since they couldn't enter the Yuke infested forest and did not want to enter the base. Jacobs would never understand why they were doing that, it seemed so illogical, it didn't make any sense.

'Why?' The Karalian thought as he stared over a shorter part of the concrete wall about 5 feet high. He was leaning both of his elbows on the concrete and his arms pillowing his head. He was just staring at those mysterious wild pokemon.

'Why do they insist on making themselves miserable? I haven't seen any of them eat since we've been here and they've refused all aid we tried to provide them with. I just don't get it…it doesn't make sense to me,' Damien thought, trying to solve the seemingly impossible enigma in front of him.

'Maybe they sense something. An attack? That wouldn't surprise me, the Yukes have been dead quiet since we repelled them last…not even taking potshots at us like they usually do. No artillery, airstrikes, nothing. I wonder if any of those pokemon can sense the tension or the nervousness among some of the enemy grunts…' he pondered intently, almost desperate to find an answer for the radical behavior of the wild pokemon.

He thought long and hard about the possibility of the exact time of the inevitable Yuke assault that will try to storm the base. Just then. Charlie, (who was sitting against the wall on the left of Damien) asked a semi-intelligent question.

"Staff Sergeant, why didn't the Yukies just nuke this island and be done with it? I mean, why waste the resources?" Charlie looked up at his enlisted superior curiously, straddling his M16 in his lap while sitting Indian-style on the ground.

"Good question Daniels, and the answer is a simple one. The only logical reason that they don't want to wipe us out with a mushroom cloud is that they want to the island and base for themselves. Undamaged so they can use it against us. That's why they want to capture it, not destroy it," Jacobs instructed his underling, not taking his eyes off of the exposed wild pokemon in the clearings.

He had to yell over the sound of the rain that was pounding the ground, almost causing flooding in certain areas. He cursed it; Damien hated the rain since he was a small child. Getting wet, and also getting sick after being in the rain when he was little.

In his hometown, Violet City, rain always fell from the sky, and every time it did he got sick if he stayed out too long and his body being drenched didn't help either. Since then, the feeling of rain was a feeling of misery to him.

CRASH!

'…Lightning, gggrrreat! Just peachy!' He thought as he used to be scared of the natural phenomenon when he was a kid. He looked up at the sky and could see the electrons and charges of lightning bolts collide with each other in the sky, and notice one make contact with the ground every once in a while.

"The Yukes would have to be crazy to attack in this insane weather," Damien thought to himself.

Adrian Montoya was deep in thought. He knew why he hated pokemon and Yuktorussians, but he didn't want to tell his squad or anybody for that matter in fear that he would be viewed as weak. And he didn't want that. He has always viewed himself as the badass, as the guy who could destroy anything that gets in his way.

He couldn't be weak. He wouldn't accept it. Ever since that day in central Yuktorussia, he vowed to himself that he would never show weakness ever again. And he vowed that he would hate pokemon forever.

He would never cry, admit to feeling pain, nothing. That is mainly the reason that he forces himself to perceive himself as an unstoppable, untouchable badass, that in the back of his mind he knows he's not, but he forces himself to believe that he is. That was the main reason he joined the Army and is excited about the Republican Guard selection for his squad.

He tried to rid himself of these 'corrupt thoughts' as he mouthed the chorus to Pardon Me by Incubus.

"_Pardon me while I burst, into flames. I've had enough of this world, and its peoples' mindless games. _

_So pardon me while I burn, and rise above the flame. Pardon me, pardon me…I'll never_ _be the same_," Adrian mouthed the song only loud enough for him to hear.

He listened to that song that night after that fateful event that changed his life forever. The event that turned him from a fun-loving, genius child…into a cocky douchbag.

Aubrey Garcia was sitting quietly on the left of Charlie, hugging her M21 and curling up into a sitting ball for warmth. She could see her own breath and she seemed to be uncomfortable.

Will was left of her, finishing up a MRE and dropping it on the ground in front of him. He decided he'll pick it up later as he turned towards Aubrey. He noticed how uncomfortable she was and frowned.

"Are you all right? You seem a little…tense," Contara told her with a look of pity on his face. She turned toward her fellow squad member and smiled weakly.

"It's ok, my body is just sensitive to the cold is all," she replied, her teeth clattering and her body shaking from the sheer cold.

"Well…maybe we can scoot together to conserve body heat?" Will asked, his voice becoming high-pitched at the end of the question.

Aubrey nodded and leaned her head against Contara's shoulder. The brown-haired soldier felt something jump inside of him that he didn't see coming. He felt awesome. The warmth of the green-haired Hoenn native's body mixed with Will's as she scooted closer towards him. He never wanted this moment to end, he was flying high…well for a few seconds at least.

BOOM BOOM! POP POP POP TAT TAT TAT TAT! BOOM TAT TAT POP!

"Red 7, contacts, contacts, contacts!" A nearby comms soldier yelled in his radio as gunfire, explosions and pokemon attacks lit up the area in chaos. Yuke tanks and infantry could be heard from behind the walls as they poured out from the forest.

'What a FUCKING buzzkill!' Will thought as he and his squad was forced into action.

Will picked up his M16 and fired over the wall at advancing Yuke forces. Unlike the previous attack this one only consisted of infantry and tanks, probably because the weather was too bad for aircraft.

You'd think that this would make things easier but this time, Yuke numbers are much higher and now the Yuke artillery is starting to fire rockets at the base. These ground-based rocket artillery pieces are much more accurate than Yuke naval artillery which fires out-dated artillery shells.

The rocket artillery on both sides started to exchange blows as the guard towers came alive with horrendous machine-gun and rocket fire. The wild pokemon were launching attacks on the enemy troops and even getting 'up close and personal' with them.

The Yukes didn't make the same mistake that they did before. This time they were ready for, and expecting wild pokemon. A Scorpion fired a tank shell into a group a three Nuzleaf and effectively erased them from existence. A Gollum fired a Hyper Beam at the Scorpion and destroyed it.

Then a second Scorpion fired tank shell after tank shell into the Gollum. It was joined by another Scorpion, and they both combined their firepower. The rock-armor on the Gollum gave way and began falling off its body in chunks as the Gollum succumbed to its injuries and accepted its fate by dropping dead.

Some Arons and other non-evolved pokemon attacked the enemy infantry in hand-to-hand combat were winning at first, able to kill or incapacitate their first opponents, but the sheer numbers of Yuke infantry, and gunfire were starting to swarm the poor wild pokemon and cause them casualties.

In one instance, an infantryman charged at a Makuhita, bayonet poised, ready to gore the fighting pokemon, but a Scyther blocked the bayonet with the swords that the Scyhter call hands. The Scyther used its strength to throw the man backward of his feet and then charged him. However, 5 more Yukes arrived and fired a volley of rounds into the Scyhter.

The bug-pokemon was able block some bullets with its deadly swords/arms, but many rounds made it through and riddled the wild Scyther's body with bullet holes. The Makuhita then used its rock throw move and started chucking rocks at the assailants, fatality hitting one in the skull with a 12 pound rock. The others however, finished off the Makuhita with another torrent of AK rounds and filled its body with lead, killing it.

This was one of many chaotic things happening outside the base walls. The wild pokemon outside were getting overwhelmed with enemy forces flooding the clearings. They had many more forces this time around than a few days ago. The base was now in combat.

The formidable Yuke forces were doing their best to wipe out the wild pokemon first, and then attack the base head-on. Screams from wild pokemon and Yukes alike could be heard as the two factions started cutting each other down in the fields surrounding the base.

Contara tried to aim at a Yuke with an RPG, only to have a wild pokemon take the enemy trooper down with a Leaf Storm. He tried to put his front sights on another Yuke squad to his left, only to watch them get barbequed by a Flamethrower from a Magmar.

He looked at the Magmar and nodded, silently thanking it. The Magmar nodded back and then got blown away by a Marauder tank shell. Will frowned immediately at the sight as the Marauder aimed at his part of the wall. Will froze up in fear as the barrel of the turret seemed to be staring right back at him.

Two seconds before he heard the tank fire its shell at him, he felt the sensation of being launched airborne away from his previous position. Right then, a friendly Paladin took the Marauder out of commission with one of its jet-assisted tank shells.

It was strange, he thought at first that he got hit and wasn't dead yet, but after a few seconds death never came. That's when he turned to his right and saw his savior.

Aubrey Daniels picked herself off the ground and dusted herself off after laying herself out and tackling Will to get him out of the line of fire. She looked at the stunned Will, still on the ground, mouth agape, staring at her. She just sighed and said:

"Seriously, how many times do I have to save your unlucky ass?" She whined as she turned away to return to her firing position a few yards away and continued her sniping.

Will was still stunned. And still staring.

"Speaking of asses, will you quit staring at mine!" Aubrey snapped at Will coldly. Amazingly she did that without having to break her concentration on her target.

BAM! The concussion of her rifle erupted as the Yuke army became another RPG trooper short.

Will couldn't help it. She had saved his life twice. She had put herself on the line for him, but why? He decided that this wasn't the time for deep thinking, so he got and returned to his position and decided just to focus on shooting for now.

After 5 minutes, the battle still ensued and the wild pokemon outside the base were nearly wiped out. Some the pokemon garrisoned inside the base and had been launching attacks from safely behind the walls couldn't stand to see their comrades die like that. In response, the remaining wild pokemon hopped/flew/dug under, the walls to assist their fellow species on the outside.

They charged into the Yuke lines, attacks blazing. Some were cut down. Some made it to their comrades to support them. The Yukes pressed their attack as a fresh Battalion of Scorpions (usually an armored battalion consists of 20 tanks and 35 to 50 support vehicles, such as APC's, but this one is pure tanks) and another 2,000 infantry arrived from the eastern beach. This battle group just strengthened the already huge assault force.

The base started taking serious hits from enemy tanks, RPGs and artillery. The enemy used the reinforcements to keep the pokemon busy while the main force assaulted the base. The reinforcements flooded into the clearing, bashing right into the wild pokemons' positions (I don't know if you can call them lines, they were pretty disorganized) and even had their tank treads run over the smaller pokemon as they advanced, causing gushes of blue to spray everywhere.

The Karalian rocket artillery pieces were all destroyed by then, leaving the enemy artillery, (which had gained even more strength by now) free to pound on whatever they wanted, including the base Headquarters in the center of the base with the airfield behind it.

The base commander, the Colonel, felt the vibrations in the control room and everything was shaking from pictures to coffee cups in the gray rooms, like an earthquake. He received a call from some Navy commander that said McAdam's Navy won't arrive in time.

He was also told that Command (General Crawford and his subordinates) believe that Dewford is lost and that his naval forces from Pacifilog Town, mostly transports, were to pick up any survivors and take them back to Pacifilog and then to either southeast Hoenn or, Vermilion or Fuchsia City in Kanto.

The Colonel asked the Navy commander how that would be done considering the base was surrounded and cut off from any waterways. It turns out that the small Naval detachment holding the eastern coast of Dewford Island has done their job well, despite taking heavy casualties from the Yuke navy.

"My transports are there," the navy commander told him.

The Colonel decided that it was crazy to have his remaining forces try to break the Yuke lines to get there. The commander told him not to worry as the transports had heli-pads and the new V-22 Osprey transport helicopters to come in and pluck them out of there. The Colonel was concerned about the storm and let the navy commander know that clearly with swearing and ranting about how crazy this plan was.

"Well, the idea is crazy in this storm I know, but how much crazier would it be to stay on the base?" The navy commander replied calmly to the base commander's outbursts.

"Fine, we'll do it but I'm NOT happy about this," the Colonel replied. He finished his conversation with the navy commander and hung up.

"Alright, we need to get the word out to everybody that we are evacuating this hellhole by chopper. Alert everyone, be sure that civilians and pokemon are the first ones aboard. I want THAT order clear! Is that understood?" The Colonel instructed.

"Yes, sir!" The entire room replied in unison as the base alarm was triggered, and a female soldier in the control room started talking over the intercom to the whole base about the situation.

However, no one knew the situation better than the troops on the ground. What the command didn't know was that the front gate had been blown open and that the wild pokemon started to retreat into the base from there.

The Yukes were closing in on the base, enemy tanks blowing holes in the concrete walls. One of the eastern guard towers was totaled after a barrage of tank shells hammered its support beams and the tower collapsed, killing all the occupants. Most of the Karalian vehicles were destroyed by this time.

An enemy infantry squad attempted to enter the base through the destroyed front gate first but got blown back by a Blastoises' Hydro Pump. A Scorpion was next, and it got decimated by an Aggron's Hyper beam, blowing the tank into pieces.

But then a flood of Yukes stormed the gates, some getting cut down by pokemon attacks and gunfire from the Karalian soldiers that were falling back slowly, deeper into the base. But the sheer numbers was too much. Yukes were climbing over the semi-destroyed concrete walls on all sides of the base.

A group of five courageous pokemon stood at the front gates, launching attacks that dropped dozens of the enemy, were cut down by AK and light-machinegun fire immediately after carrying out their deed. The Yukes were on their way to taking the base. Tanks and other Yuktorussian reinforcements were surrounding the perimeter of the Army-Air base, ready to shoot anything that tries to escape.

The situation looked hopeless. The enemy infantry was advancing into the fortress at a walking pace, indiscriminately shooting civilians, soldiers, and pokemon alike.

2nd. Squad was in a slow retreat from their previous position that was overrun by Marauders after Montoya ran out of Javelin missiles. They were all shooting from behind base houses and cars a block away from the walls. The enemy appeared to be pushing the Karalians towards the center of the base.

Montoya was behind the left side of a Honda Civic firing his light-machinegun at approaching enemy infantry. Charlie was behind the right side of the Civic slapping a fresh magazine into his M16. The rest of the squad was behind the wall of a house a few yards left of the Civic. Damien was peeking over the wall with his M4 and firing short bursts at individual soldiers.

Aubrey was behind the wall next to him, dropping an expended magazine from her rifle and swiping a fresh one from her chest body armor, under her uniform. She would run out past Damien, somewhat out in the open, snipe a lone enemy, and then retreat back behind the wall.

Will was on the left of Aubrey, waiting for his turn to fire at the Yukes. Once Damien clicked empty, Will would take his spot and provide suppression fire while Damien reloads and vice versa.

The plan was that this cycle was to continue until the enemy either brought a tank, they were in danger of getting cut off from the rest of the division, the enemy in front of them gets within 25 yards, or if the choppers that HQ promised arrived. If any of those happened, they would retreat immediately.

They left one scenario out though.

"AHHHH!" Charlie screamed in pain as a 7.62mm round penetrated his shoulder, knocking him off his feet.

Damien just heard the scream and turned around to see Daniels get knocked backwards from a round.

"Shit," Damien muttered. He went to go pick up Charlie while the others provided cover fire.

"You all right Daniels?" Damien said concerned getting Charlie to his feet. Charlie was gripping his shoulder and grimacing in pain.

"FEEELS LIKE…I GOT HIT WITH A …FUCK..ING..SLEDGEHAMMER!" Charlie said, in intense pain.

"Fall back now!" Damien ordered while helping Charlie getaway from the line, even Charlie was still walking under his own power.

The Squad complied as they all fell back slowly, walking backwards and shooting simultaneously. Even Adrian complied with this order as he and the others provided cover fire for Daniels and Jacobs.

The wound was seeping blood as Damien observed it while trying to keep Charlie from stumbling. The wound looked extremely painful but didn't look fatal, but the Staff Sergeant didn't want to risk it. He was not going to let any of his own die, ever. He was concerned about the rain seeping into the wound and infecting it as well.

"Daniels, keep that thing covered got it?" Jacobs whispered into Charlie's ear. He replied by just nodding and putting his head back down, obviously in pain. They continued to retreat and eventually reached an open area of the base where you can see other parts of it.

It was a gloomy sight. Karalian soldiers and civilians were retreating towards the center of the base, which wasn't far now. All of the military vehicles were destroyed, the F-18's on the airfield were in ruins or flames from enemy rocket artillery. Buildings were either destroyed or on fire. Rubble and dead bodies were everywhere. Red and Blue blood were splattered all over the streets and on the walls of buildings.

Shouts of the enemy were getting louder now. And closer.

All seemed lost.

Then a roaring from multiple engines rang out in the sky. Jacobs looked up and swore that his eyes were playing trick on him. V-22 Ospreys and CH-46 Chinooks buzzed overhead and starting descending about a hundred yards ahead of him and his squad. He cracked an open-mouth smile as he saw the helicopters come down and start picking up civilians, pokemon and wounded soldiers first.

"Let's get the hell out of here!" Damien yelled in relief as his squad cheered (except Adrian, who seemed indifferent) and they started moving towards the landing zone as more helicopters were coming in from the ocean.

The first wave took off with their first batch of passengers, mostly civilians and pokemon, and headed out back the way they came, only to be replaced with a second wave of helicopters. The second wave of 12 helicopters picked up the rest of the civilians and pokemon and even had room for some wounded military personnel, which was a good sign. They took off and a third wave replaced them in quick succession.

Jacobs and his squad reached the third wave by this time and were anxious to get on board, hearing the Yukes get closer and closer to the landing zone or LZ. Rocket artillery shells continued to pound the structures of the base as the helicopters remained unharmed.

It was 2nd. Squad's turn to board a Ch-53, a smaller helicopter than its gigantic counterparts with a machine gunner turret at the door. The gunner motioned them with his hands to come on board, and Damien pushed Charlie into a seat as him and the others followed.

"Hey, we need a medic here!" Damien shouted as a medic (there was at least one on every helicopter) rushed towards Charlie and started tending to his wound.

Aubrey got the window seat as she looked out at the crumbling base, and frowned. This coundn't be good. She look at the heavy loss of life here, and felt a pang in her gut. She swallowed the saliva mouth as she collected herself.

The helicopter took off and the scene in front of them was replaced by a dark gray sky, which perfectly described the mood of today. As the chopper took off, RPG fire from the Yukes started to appear into the sky around them.

Aubrey watched the CH-53 next to their take an RPG hit right on the tail rotor, making the helicopter spin out of control and crash into the ground below.

"Damn, I'll take him out," the gunner yelled out the engine humming as he let loose with his chain gun. The rounds killed the RPG trooper and some of his squad below until a sniper's bullet pierced the gunner's Kevlar helmet and his body fell out of the in-motion helicopter.

"Shit!" Damien yelled as more sniper rounds hit the helicopter. One round hit the co-pilot and his face smashed into the controls. The alarms in the helicopter went crazy, as the main pilot struggled to regain control.

"Dammit! I can take care of this but I need someone to take out that sniper!" He yelled at his crew chief guy as he started pressing buttons and pulling levers and other pilot things like that.

"Okay, can anybody kill that guy?" The crewchief asked second squad.

"I can!" Aubrey said as she put the stock of her rifle in her shoulder and started scanning the sniper that was harassing the remaining pilot as he regained control of the machine. The chopper stopped squirming and allowed Aubrey to focus.

She spotted a muzzle flash and heard a DING! behind her and locked into the muzzle flash, she adjusted her aim for being in motion and even for the wind current of the storm!

She saw the sniper and the sniper saw her.

Aubrey pulled the trigger first and put him down.

She had just accomplished a feat, few could imitate or top. She looked behind her and a few inches above her head was a bullet hole. A few inches from death.

After a few seconds of silence everybody realized that Garcia hit her target.

"I don't care who you are, THAT was badass!" Jacobs yelled, with an awestruck look on his face.

All the occupants cheered and were talking about what just happened. Charlie got a good look at the female nurse that was treating him and liked what he saw. As she stopped cheering and went back to treating him, he did something only Charlie would do.

"You know, this experience taught me something," he told her in a serious tone.

"And what's that?" She asked as she looked at him curiously.

Charlie smiled and went for it.

"That there is much more to life than being really really RIDICULOUSLY good-looking!" Charlie said in a strange tone as he turned his head slightly to the side and stared at her with wide eyes, puckering his lips out.

"Uhhhhhh…" the female medic replied as she sweat dropped.

"What you've never seen Zoolander? Come on! That's Blue Steel right there!" A frustrated Daniels said as he tried to keep himself from laughing.

"The fuck is he talking about?" The medic asked as she turned to Will.

"I have no clue," Will said as he shrugged. Everybody was looking at Charlie like "what was that?"

"Can I kill him?" Adrian asked Damien calmly.

"No," Jacobs responded with a smirk on his face.

"Aww come on! I'll be quick!" Adrian pleaded.

"No! You can't kill him! Now get on that unmanned chain-gun Montoya!" Jacobs turning serious again.

"Yes, Staff Sergeant," Adrian sighed in disappointment as he got up and manned the chain-gun.

'Now what?' The squad leader thought to himself as the convoy of transport helicopters left Dewford Island and headed towards the ocean.

Dewford Island was lost. Rustboro City was lost.

Yuke forces were approaching Petalburg City.

Vendanturf Town was in danger as some enemy forces moved northward.

Rumors of a Yuktorussian pokemon task force approaching the shores of northwest Johto were surfacing. According to the reports, they seem to be massing on the shores from transport ships in numbers estimated from 100,000 to 10 million, only a few hundred miles from Ecruteak City.

The southwestern Hoenn defenses were crumbling. The main portion of the Karalian Navy was nowhere to be found. Yuktorussian reinforcements continue to stuff the shores of southwest Hoenn as the Yuktorussian 8th. Army just arrived in Rustboro.

8 of Yuktorussia's 10 standing armies were now in Hoenn. Yuktorussia was now organizing its 4 reserve armies and their government was calling for the creation of 2 new armies and additional military funding.

Yuktorussia was now investing in owners of oil fields that would give them decent prices. So they invested in Lukenshoan oil…or should I say… Rycinian oil. Rycinia has successfully seized all of Lukensho and destroyed any opposition to its regime's agendas.

The battle in the Karalian Senate was still raging on. The World Federation was in no position to assist Karalia militarily, though sympathetic to her cause.

The only possible ally of Karalia that could assist her militarily was her greatest yet smallest ally. Vikoria. But Vikoria was on the other side of the world and does not have the military strength to significantly damage the Yuke army. They would be nothing but a speed bump to the Yuktorussian juggernaut.

It was amazing that that tiny nation used to rule the world, or at least a major portion of it. It even ruled the land of what is now Karalian for a short time. Of course when that kind of power is actually needed, it's nowhere to be found.

Vikoria longed to assist its greatest ally and asset but lacked the power and the support of the World Federation to do so. In short terms, it wasn't Vikoria's fault that she couldn't assist her friend.

Karalia was starting to lose this war.

The friendly transport ships were now in view as each member of 2nd. Squad pondered their future.

Unknown Location- Rycinia- 1400 hours

There was little to no light. Only darkness and pain here. Anthony Ketchum pondered his surroundings after coming to. Whatever this place was, it definitely wasn't friendly.

Anthony couldn't see so he guess there was a sack of some kind over his head. He was being carried on a stretcher by two men with boots that were pounding the cement floor with every step.

He knew he was going to be taken somewhere, a prison cell probably. He heard the screams of tortured prisoners and cries for mercy in Rycinian every five seconds, going down that hallway.

He was right. The sack was yanked off his head and encountered a Rycinian loyalist soldier staring right back. Then the stretcher was elevated as the two Rycinians dumped the Karalian spy into a dark, miserable prison cell.

The groggy Karalian grunted in pain as his body hit the floor. He tried to pick himself off the ground as the sound of a metal cell door slamming from behind him could be heard. He just laid there and stared blankly into the blackness of his cell. The pain in the sections of his body that hit the floor was excruciating.

After a minute or two his eyes adjusted to the lack of light and came into focus. He realized that he was in a poorly sanitized cell…just as he thought might happen.

"Predictable," Anthony huffed as he saw the cracked and disease-ridden cell that matched the one he expected in his head. He picked himself up from the ground and sat down on the one wooden bench in the cell.

"Let me guess!" Anthony yelled out sarcastically.

"You're going to feed me shit for food! Next, you're going interrogate me about my whereabouts and my links to the rebels!" Anthony continued to yell to any Rycinian that would listen to him.

"Then, you going to torture me for weeks and then the GRAND FINALE…you're going to publicly execute me!" Anthony finished as he looked around with an annoyed smile on his face.

"Tell me! How accurate was I? You're predictable you know that? Nothing you can do will surprise me!" Anthony laughed loudly and stood up, throwing his arms up in a challenging way. 

Obviously the Rycinian guards didn't take the Karalian's insults too kindly, because they opened the cell and three guards walked in, standing shoulder to shoulder. The one the middle approached Anthony with an annoyed expression. Anthony frowned at this.

"Shit, not this again," Anthony groaned as the man started beating him. He punched the spy in the face and then dropkicked the Karalian to the ground, after that was done, he started kicking, punching, and cursing the prisoner until a fourth man entered the cell and ordered the two men behind the attacker to take Anthony away.

The guard stopped his onslaught, and then eyed the fourth with a smile. He turned and looked down on Anthony, spitting on the captured conspirator.

"You're Fucked!" The man said with pleasure in Rycinian as he laughed in enjoyment.

"After you're done with what they do to you, you're gonna wish that I was beating your ass again!" The man sneered evilly at Anthony.

Anthony's eyes grew wide in terror as he realized what this meant.

'Here we go,' he thought with gloomy perspective as the two guards grabbed him and took him to his torture cell.

Afterthought

This is sad. I hope when I get back, I'll still have the heart and the will to continue this. You guys are the best and even though I've never seen any of you in person, I will miss all of you dearly. Just wanted you to know that. For the last time for a while, this is Like A Boss 2 signing off!

(Salutes all of you) farewell comrades and I wish you luck! :)


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23- Shocking Developments**

Well, its time to give another crack at this strange, strange, fanfiction. I don't know if I've lost a lot of my skill over time, so we'll see. Sorry if this chapter's boring…still getting back in the swing of things, so it's filler time! -_- …Yeah I know, you're probably gonna wanna murder me in the face with a banana after you die of boredom from this chapter. XD But still, this chapter does have some interesting bits of information that may be useful…or to better understand future chapters.

Thank you all for your patience and loyalty, so let's skip the gushy crap and get to the story. K? :D

Ash and company were just strolling around the city. Mostly, they were enjoying the window shopping and scenery as Mauville appeared to be a pretty clean city. The city was bustling as it was lunch hour and many people were returning to their jobs.

"Hey look, there's a mall guys!" May yelped excitedly as her eyes sparkled at the newly opened Mauville Mall.

"Uhhhhh…." Ash and Max voiced in perfect unison as their nervous faces grew as they grimly predicted what was about to happen next. May gave Ash a puppy dog face that would make Randall Slavik shoot himself in the face cause of the overwhelming cuteness and….

"Okay okay, stop! I can't take it! We'll go, we'll go! Just stop with the cuteness! It's melting my brain!" Ash shouted with an annoyed tone, even though he was just joking.

May smiled at him and leaned in close to his face.

"Did you just call me cute?" May inquired, her innocent looking smile grew as she asked.

Ash looked around nervously:

"Uhhhhh…" as he desperately tried to come up with a semi-intelligent answer to her question.

"Yes?" Ash answered his mind still blank, and unable to process an answer.

Pikachu face palmed thought 'Ah fuck, he's screwed' as May's smile grew wider and Ash realized what he just said.

"So you admit it?" May replied as she poked deeper in the subject. She was excited this might be the first time she might actually see visible results of her efforts. To make him realize that…

"Off to the mall now!" Ash blurted, sprinting away from the uncomfortable scene. Max followed, confused as hell and wanting to change the subject as well. The yellow mouse on Ash's shoulder sighed in disappointment as he was bouncing up and down the pokemon trainer's shoulder as a result from the running.

May frowned and silently regretted bringing up the subject and followed behind. Maybe the mall would cheer her up. It never failed before.

As they entered the massive indoor mall, the girl instinct in May went off like a siren as she off into the abyss of shoppers and vendors that enveloped all 3 floors of the mall.

"Hey, wait up sis!" Max called out as he and Ash scrambled to catch up with the young brunette after her dead-sprint into the craziness. Pikachu almost got belted in the face by a bystander's elbow, but ducked and dodged it and others as Ash and Max weaved through the human maze.

They stopped in what appeared to be a clearing, or the end of the crowd. Max fixed his crooked glasses, thanks to a woman's purse, and turned to Ash and the mouse on his shoulder. He noticed Ash and Pikachu staring at a line of people, mostly young men and a few women, in a random, long line in the middle of the mall. The line was about 50 yards long and led into a single establishment.

When Ash saw it, he was curious to what was going on.

'What is this all about?' Max pondered, mystified by the human train.

"Pika, Pi?" Pikachu added, voicing his own curiosity.

Ash wanted to find out what this was so he tapped the person in the very back of the line to get his attention. The person in front of him responded by turning around with an ecstatic look on his face. Ash saw a 15 year-old blond young man that was a few inches taller than Ash, looking back at him.

"Huh? What's up man?" The blond responded to the shoulder tap.

"Yeah, excuse me, but what are you all doing here?" Ash asked innocently, a blank look on his face. The excitement in the blonde's eyes was clear as he responded.

"Haven't you heard? The age enlistment bill sailed through the Senate with flying colors! We can enlist at 14 now! I can't believe it! This is so freakin' awesome! Then I heard about the Republican Guards and I was sold!" The blonde explained ecstatically, obviously having no concept of the horrors of war just yet. A civilian kid that had no idea what he was getting himself into.

"Thanks," Ash answered, stunned by what he just heard. This can't be possible… 14 year-olds allowed to fight?... It was an unfamiliar concept but that's what the government is apparently asking from their citizens.

"So what does this all that have to do with this line?" Max quizzed, his curiosity getting the best of him. The older blonde turned to the young Maple and proceeded to answer his question.

"This is the line for the Republican Guard recruiting service! They have sssooooo many jobs available! I wanna be an aerial gunner!" The oldest of the conversation responded cheerfully.

"A recruiting service? In a mall? That's pretty strange," Ash replied with a confused look on his face. He didn't understand that recruiting centers were actually pretty common in malls.

"Well thanks for the info! C'mon Ash we gotta go find May!" Max said as he started off towards another group of customers. But as he was running and had gone a little ways, he noticed something…no Ash by his side.

He looked back and saw Ash still in line and Pikachu on his shoulder trying to tell his master that Max was leaving and to follow.

But Ash wouldn't move.

Instead, he kept his eyes glued to the destination of the line.

'Republican Guards…I wonder-'

"Are you coming or what Ash?" Max yelled out to the hat-wearing trainer. The yell broke Ash's train of thought as he glanced over to Max, only to realize that Max was already about 20 yards from him.

Ash snapped out of the momentary trance and proceeded to rejoin his youngest friend and started after him, leaving the mysteriously enticing line behind him. They headed into the jungle of desperate Christmas shoppers as the holiday wasn't far away. They dodged customers, and avoided a mall cop driving a segway, and averted possible collisions with teenagers, crazed parents, and the random employee taking a lunch.

12 minutes passed before they found May looking at perfumes at a fashion shop on the second floor. When they found her, she was spraying an amazing number of different perfume brands on her wrists. She'd sniff each one and if she didn't like it, she just threw it back over her shoulder like it was nothing and move on to the next one.

When Ash, Pikachu, and Max entered the store, they witnessed the coordinator toss a bottle of perfume over her back and watch the projectile nail a random employee in the head. Max just sighed in wonder as he wondered what drove his sister to act like this. Ash just laughed at the poor employee's expense. Pikachu copied his master as he chuckled to himself at the scene.

"C'mon May it took us forever to track you down! Can we go home now?" Max whined, already sick of the mall. May turned around and saw her companions behind and completely ignored Max. She charged at Ash with her wrist at the ready, as the young teen boy's eyes grew wide at the charged girl coming at him. Just when it appeared that a collision was eminent, the pokemon coordinate slammed on the brakes and stopped a mere few inches from Ash.

"Hey Ash, do like the Luvdisc Beach, or Sunflora Rays?" She asked the hat wearing trainer excitedly.

Ash reluctantly took a sniff and…the smell wasn't overbearing or overpowering like how it always is when you walk into this type of store…it smelled….decent? Ash was mystified.

'Wow…that's actually not bad,' he thought, expecting the perfume to be overbearing, but it wasn't bad he'd have to admit.

"Well…what do ya think?" May said, noticing taking a little longer than was necessary.

"Wha..? Oh…it's okay," Ash replied nervously, realized that he was still sniffing after few seconds. He retraced himself and played it off.

"Hey May, I don't think Max wants to stay here much longer so I say we split," Ash changed the subject, playing off of Max's complaint.

"Fine…" May grunted as she prepared to leave.

"Oh wait! I wanna get this!" She exclaimed as she snatched the bottle of Luvdisc Beach off of the counter and made her way to the cashier to pay for it. Afterwards, they decided to leave the mall and head back home as it was drifting into evening time.

As they got home they walked home to a suprising Chinese cuisine that Caroline cooked up. They all sat and ate and all talked about the day. Caroline went to job interviews finished early and got to saw some of the city. She couldn't shut up about awesome Mauville City was, despite the heat. Norman was obviously wiped but managed to keep a positive attitude, adding that his job interviews seemed to be pretty good and he might get put to work soon.

The younger put their two cents and the pokemon were enjoying the pokemon food that was laid out for them.

As the dinner drew to a close the family (with Ash and Pikachu being the exception) they all sat around in the Maple's new living room as they watched the news to get a little insight on what was going on in the world.

Norman grabbed the remote and flipped on the news channel and an attractive female brunette reporter took up the screen a video showing the outside of the Senate Hall in Saffron City.

"The enlistment bill to allow younger Karalian citizens enlist in the Armed Forces was passed today by a crushing 139 to 61 vote in the Senate Hall this morning. President Carson's proposed bill sailed through the Republican controlled Senate and the bill has been passed. Public opinion has shown a 73% approval of President Carson after the bill was passed, compared to the 67% before the passage of the new law yesterday," the anchor took a breath and continued.

"Also coincidentally, the new branch of the Armed Forces for the Republic of Karalia, the Republican Guard Divisions, have begun their nation-wide recruiting process today as thousands of young Karalians flocked to these recruiting stations along with those of the other services. Such a sight of patriotism and bravery by these young men and women is a touching for all us. We will keep you posted on that story," the anchor took another breath before she introduced another world issue that was pressing.

"In other news, recent Rycinian aggression against its neighbor Lukensho seems to have been repeated…the victim this time was the Federal Republic of Surcotta, which borders Lukensho from the south. A peaceful nation, crushed by unnecessary aggression. The capital city of Arstall is being beefed up with what's left of the surprised and shocked Surcottian Military, as Arstall is being surrounded by Rycinian troops.

The Rycinian invasion is an initial success, even though they've only taken 23% of the fairly large nation. Also, Surcotta owns another 2% of the world's oil reserves. A possible motive for the unexpected assault," she took another breath and sighed as she was starting to get tired.

"This is especially alarming since Karalia's greatest ally, the Republic of Vikoria, borders Surcotta to the south. Vikoria is growing extremely restless due to the fact of their now close proximity to the communist forces. Vikoria believes that Rycinia may be interested in new Vikorian laser technology, and is firmly convinced that Rycinian invaded Surcotta merely to get within striking distance of Vikoria and steal the small nation's technology.

With that said the Vikorian military has begun to mobilize and the Vikorians have also been answering to the Surcottian government's cries for help by promising to send them material support and possible reinforcement.

The Vikorian military technology is vastly superior to Rycinia's, however: lack of manpower, funding cuts, and an economic recession plague the small nation and has tilted circumstances in the favor of Rycinia in the instance of a possible conflict between to two old cold war rivals," the news anchor finished her grim report.

Norman then turned off the TV before the newscast could end. Everybody looked at Norman with puzzled faces. Norman saw this and explained himself.

"Sorry, but I just thought that we saw enough negativity for tonight," Norman replied, obviously not wanting the younger members "family?" to get worried about too much. Caroline seemed understand this and nodded at her husband in agreement.

"Ok, let's all shower and get to bed now!" Caroline said in her best cheery voice she could muster. Ash, May, Max, and even Pikachu all groaned in defiance at first, complaining about how early it still was. (It was only about 9). But after a threat of a lecture was announced by Caroline, they all suddenly agreed to her order to avoid being bored to death.

From then on it all seemed like a pretty routine night. Everybody showered and went to bed. Ash slept in Max's room since there wasn't room for a guest bedroom. Norman and Ash set up an air bed on the Max's floor and blew it up so Ash can sleep on it. Everybody was now in bed and everybody was subconscious…well almost everybody.

It was a peaceful night as the moon hovered over the Hoenn sky, and small stars dotted the sky as well. Max Maple looked out the window from his bed and admired the beauty of the night sky. Though he knew that those stars were nothing but giant balls of gas, density, and heat, still they looked amazing from his bedroom window.

He glanced at his alarm clock and showed 1 AM. Max had been asleep and had woken up in the middle of the night, but he won't be the only one. He looked at Ash, who was sleeping on the blow-up bed on the floor, Pikachu curled up into a ball beside him. They both seemed so peaceful.

Seemed…

_Ash was firing his M16 at the Yuke soldiers below and Pikachu was launching off thunderbolt after thunderbolt into the enemy platoon. Ash and Pikachu were holding off the aggressive invaders on the mountaintop. It seemed that Yuke attackers numbered around 50 or 60 men. _

_The Maples were on the backside of the mountain, trying to escape. _

'_Gotta buy them time! Gotta buy them time!' Ash thought as he emptied another magazine and slapped a fresh one in the assault rifle. AK rounds punctured and ricocheted off the landscape around Ash and his partner. _

_It seemed as though the Yukes were getting closer with each round Ash fired. He looked on the ground at his side and saw three magazines left. He turned to Pikachu and saw him starting to get exhausted from the constant thunderbolt attacks._

"_Come on Pikachu! We've gotta hold them off, so they have time to escape!"Ash yelled to his best friend desperately._

"_PikaPi, Pikachu," the yellow rodent pokemon responded in reply. Just as the conversation was completed, a barrage of AK rounds slammed into Pikachu's body. _

_Ask looked on in terror as he watched his best friend of four years, lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood. Ash screamed as the blue liquid surrounded the late mouse's body._

"_PPPIIIKKAACCHHUU!" Ash cried as he scrambled over to his friend's body, steaming tears flying wildly from his blood red eyes. _

_As Ash bent over to try and assist his friend, an RPG slammed into the mountain, a mere ten feet from Ash. The rocket-propelled grenade sent Ash flying in the air._

_He could feel himself float up there for almost an eternity as his stomach dropped from the G-forces. _

"_Humph...AHHHH!" Ash screamed as he makes contact with the ground. He felt and heard his ribs snap immediately from the impact. The pain seared through his entire body to a point where it was unbearable. He wanted to scream more but the impact knocked the air out of his lungs._

_He tried to get up despite the pain, but all he could was crawl a few inches. He watched in horror as he realized that he fell down the mountain…right into the Yuke position…_

_Ash tried to reach for his rifle…_

'_Wait?' He thought as he felt for his only form of defense…it wasn't there! _

_He heard the crunching and scuffling of combat boots trudging through the rocky landscape. The sounds got closer as two six-man Yuke squads surrounded Ash on both flanks and trained their weapons on him. Then, he witnessed another six-man squad entering the area in front of him and saw them make a hole in their formation._

_Ash, still in pain, was too concerned with the pain in the area of his body with the broken ribs. He did notice however, that through the hole in the formation came a Yuke officer. The officer stared Ash with a heartless stare as he approached Ash. _

_When he was about a few feet from Ash, he drew a handgun and held it against Ash's temple. _

_Ash looked up at the unforgiving officer with forlorn eyes…_

_He pulled the trigger…_

"AAAAHHHH!" Ash screamed as he awoke from his nightmare. He shot up from bed and began scuffling along the floor, running his hands through the wooden floor as if he was looking for something. Max heard the scream and popped out of bed. Pikachu woke and was accidently tossed off the blow-up bed by his master.

"Ash! What is going on?" Max asked in concern, watching Ash behave erratically. Ash looked at Max with wild eyes as he continued his frantic search.

"MAX! WHERE'S? WHERE'S PIKACHU! WHERE'S MY RIFLE DAMMIT!" Ash cursed as he searched even more frantically. Pikachu was starting to get scared at his master's behavior, and Max was just confused.

"ASH! What are you talking about?" Max asked, horribly confused as a look of worry appeared on his face. Ash got up and ran to Max's bed and dived under it looking for either his best friend or his weapon.

"THEY'LL KILL US! I GOTTA STOP THEM BEFORE THEY KILL US!" Ash yelled as he started freaking out even more, desperately looking for his rifle as if he was running out of time.

"Ash, what is wrong?" Max raised his voice even more, wanting answers to Ash's rambling.

Ash seemed to give up as he couldn't find what he was looking for in any of Max's clothing drawers. He just sat down and started to sob and punch the hardwood floor.

"I FAILED! THEY'LL KILL US! WHERE'S PIK—KK—AAAA-CHU!" He cried between sobs of sadness and frustration. He continued to sob and curse as he thought he had failed…

He thought that Pikachu was gone… he dropped his head in shame…

…then he picked his head up and realized he was in the Maple household.

The entire Maple family had woken up and move to Max's room. Norman rammed open the door and was mystified by what he saw.

"….What the… hell?" Norman said, extremely confused.

**Afterthought**

Well, that was strange. Wasn't it? Anyways, I would like to apologize for the shitty chapter but I'm still getting back into the swing. Thank you all for your patience and your support is vital!

It's great to be back! :D

Hold on for next chapter! :)


	24. Chapter 24

WARNING: NOT A REAL CHAPTER

This will be the song used in my rewrite:

.com/watch?v=yvD4OIswDcQ

Been gone for a while…

I'm sorry.

If you are wondering what the hell is going on then I'll explain it to you. I'm following the prose of what Geck did to Blackwatch.

I know I made a promise but that promise clearly stated that I would not **GIVE UP** on the story, never said I couldn't rewrite it.

Read the fine print.

You are all probably pissed as hell at me and I'm already awaiting death threats.

Why rewrite you ask?

Well, there's plenty of reasons for that. And simple ones too.

My first blunder was trying to make an epic for my first story, an order to big to fill for a fledgling writer.

Had I any sense, I should have started out with one-shots to build my confidence and skill.

But no…I wanted the glory NOW! :(

Well, let's see how that worked out for me.

Plot holes have infected my story like trolls infected the internet.

My grammar is atrocious and I still don't have an editor for my pokemon fics.

I never had any direction for this story; I really just made it all up as I went. In other words, almost none of it was properly thought out.

I have run dry of ideas for the story.

I originally wanted Republican Wars to follow the prose of **Ace Combat 5's** plot, which I still plan to do. Only better this time.

I mean "Yuktorussia" = "Yuktobania"?

I'm surprised no one caught that! XD

I became a Brony in late January, and I've been plagued by ponies ever since.

Why does this matter?

Because I'm focusing my writing resources in that direction for the time being.

Also, I hope that it will help me gain the skill I need to do this rewrite correctly.

It'll make me a writing veteran…

**RAINBOW DASH MOTHERFUCKERS! **:D

This story actually came out better than I thought. However, at this point, it's not up to my standards. I wanted to write something awesome, and chaotic…

But at the same time, beautiful.

A fic that would blow audiences away by its epicness.

I wanted people to think of this song when they read my story:

.com/watch?v=SjglVuwO0hY

(Doesn't get good until 1:17) :)

The song basically sets the tone of:

"Dark, yet beautiful…in a snowy landscape."

A reason why I set the war in the story during winter if you can remember.

I know I sound a little too sentimental but…that's what I wanted my readers to feel man…

Ok, also wanted hundreds of reviews but that's not the point. :)

And I failed.

I bit off WAY more than I could chew with this.

And so…

A rewrite will be underway.

Thank you all for your loyalty, uplifting reviews, and sparing me flames while reading my personal disaster of a fic.

You guys are awesome!

The rewrite will be similar to the original but there will be a number of key changes to be done.

Also, I'll be changing my pen name to either: Silver, Silverstein or Silverstein222, whatever variant works so I hope that's not an issue.

It will also bear the same name as the original and I will leave up the original as an artifact to study from. It will stay up until my rewrite is complete.

**I WILL KEEP MY PROMISE! **

This is it.

It's over…

For now.


End file.
